Ribbons and Badges: It begins
by Spiitex
Summary: Hayden and Jean, two best friends, begin they're own Pokemon adventure. Aspiring to be the Pokemon Champion and the top Coordinator, they meet new friends, enemies and encounter a little romance along the way. Summary bites!. 1st Gym Battle is up; R&R!
1. Chapter 1: An Eggcellent Beginning

So guys. First off, thanks for stopping buy to read it. Second, I hope you enjoy it. They aren't really in a set region at the moment, since there hasn't been mention of one, but it contains every species of Pokémon so far. The town names, gym leaders etc are my own creation, so they might seem a bit strange. Also, I decided to change the typical way trainers and coordinators received Pokémon because its a nice twist. Please do review, even if its a few words or a few sentences, I'm always happy to hear your comments, thoughts and feedback. I'm just really getting into Pokémon fics, so it might be a bit rusty. Anyways, heres the first chapter!

**An eggcellent beginning**

"So, Jean, what type of Pokémon you gonna' choose?" asked a tall, messy blond haired boy. He was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, white trainers, a blue t-shirt. Overall, he looked pretty scruffy, but Hayden Ranner wasn't one to spend a long time on his attire. He seemed to follow the motto 'If it covers your bits, who cares'

The slightly smaller, slim girl hastily striding at his side had her brow knotted in deep though, and she was chewing her bottom lip, a few red strands of hair drifting into her mouth from her curly vibrant hair. Her green eyes were sparkling though, out of excitement and anticipation. It took her a few moments to actually realise that Hayden was talking to her. "Oh... well, I'd really love an ice or grass type. But I guess it all depends on what eggs we choose" Jean replied, with a quick smile. Hayden nodded in agreement, shifting his backpack on his shoulders.

The two had just turned fourteen, the time there parents finally decided they were allowed to start their own Pokémon adventures. The two had grown up together, living next door in the small town of Strane. They'd pretty much been best friends there whole life too, Hayden was usually cool and calm, but when he did lose his temper he needed Jean to calm him back down. Jean was rash and always jumped into things, so Hayden was there to go through the whole thing logically. They fitted together quite well really. They were travelling to Redville City at the time; to receive they're Pokémon eggs from Professor Willow, the local Pokémon expert. Instead of being given an already hatched Pokémon, new trainers were now given eggs so that they could hatch them there selves and establish a very strong bond with the Pokémon.

"I'd really love an dragon, or maybe even psychic type. But I think those eggs will already be gone." Hayden sighed. "Just think, if our parents would have let us go a few weeks ago, when the new eggs were put in the lab, we could have had a choice from loads." His shoulders seemed to sag as he thought over the possibility. Jean's eyes flickered to her friend for a second, and she seemed to come out of her thinking trance. Patting him on the back she smiled warmly at him.

"Maybe, but I just know that any Pokémon we get is gonna' be great! And besides, were not even far from Redville, I can just see the huge Poke-Store!" pointing to a large spire appearing over the duty hill in which they were making their way up. Hayden's blue eyes drifted to it, and something seemed to light up. "Race you to the Lab?" Jean asked, already in a running stance and a challenging smile across her face. "You're on, Slowpoke!" Hayden replied, already dashing forwards and laughing.

The two teenagers came skidding up to the Lab doors, panting and slightly disgruntled from getting through the city crowds. The Lab was a little out of the way from the hub and bub of Redville, on a 

small hill. "I... I.. won" Hayden panted, doubled over to catch his breath, his messy hair now even more messy.

"No.. way...I got.. here.. first" Jean replied in between breaths, wiping sweat off her forehead and leaning against the pristine white wall of the building. The whole complex was pure white, and in weather as hot as this, it reflected the light at a almost unbearable level. Without carrying on the argument, Hayden shrugged and stood straight, brushing himself off. Jean followed suit and the two stepped through the automatic doors into the cool, airy reception area, relishing in the air conditioning.

Deciding not to take seats to wait around, the two made their way up to the front desk, where a haughty looking woman with a large nose sat. Upon their arrival she looked up at them through glasses perched on her nose and began to type their names into the computer. A few seconds later it bleeped some information back and she directed them to a door down the hall way. "Thank you" Jean called over her shoulder as they began to power walk down the hall.

"Just think Jean... were about to get out own Pokémon! It's really about to happen!" Hayden buzzed, scanning the numbers mounted on the doors frantically. Jean didn't reply for a few seconds but chewed her lip.

"I can't believe it's finally happening!" she practically giggled. Suddenly Hayden yanked her arm, so that she clumsily flopped to a halt. Her eyes found the number Twenty Eight, and gulping slightly, she knocked three times before opening the door and stepping in, Hayden close behind her. The room was what could be expected of a Pokémon Laboratory, posters and graphs of various data adorned the walls, along with several bookshelves, and a few large flashing machines sat in the corner.

Professor Willow herself entered the room from a open door at the right side of the room. She was tall and skinny, with hazel curls that extended to her back. As usual, she was dressed in plain black trousers and top, and a long white lab coat. She waved for them to enter the room properly and greeted them with handshakes and smiles. "Wonderful to finally meet you. I've had your data recorded for some time, it was a bit of a relief to enter it into a Pokedex" she laughed.

"Its wonderful to be here!" Jean said, her voice shouting excitement. Hayden nodded in agreement, and stopped his fidgeting hands with an effort. It was pretty clear that both of them were extremely restless. "Well, lets not waste any more time. If you'd like to take a seat briefly." Professor Willow gestured to the hard backed chairs and the small white table as she entered the room she had made her entrance from. Exchanging ecstatic glances, the two sat down hastily, dropping their backpacks by their feet. Jean's hands wouldn't stop gripping the light blue summer dress she wore, and every now and then she'd tug at the simple black cardigan she wore over it.

Moments later, the Professor reappeared clutching an assortment of shiny looking items. Placing two rectangular, pocket sized devices in front of Hayden and Jean, baby blue and powder pink respectively, she let the bundle of small red and white Pokeballs fall onto the table. She pushed six towards them each, and fished out a key from her lab pocket, turning towards the wall. "Those are your new Pokedexes, the colours you ordered on your forms. I've just updated them actually, with some new features. Not only does it serve as your I.D and data bank, but its now got a complete map 

of Kanto, and basic information on all known Pokemon species" she said, her back to them as she began to turn the key in a lock on a well concealed door. "And of course your Pokeballs. Until your egg hatches I doubt you'll have much use for them though".

Hayden and Jean gave each other a quick glance of glee and then began to fiddle and inspect they're new gadgets, grins painted on there faces. Jean held her powder pink Pokedex up to the light proudly before carefully placing it in a side pocket of her bag, and Hayden was already clipping his Pokeballs onto his belt. "Thank you so much Pofessor!" Jean gushed, while Hayden stumbled about his own thanks. She turned and grinned at them as she pushed open the door and waved it away. "No problem, honestly. Now, if you'd like to follow me, you can choose your eggs" Hayden and Jean leaped up after her and quickly scooted into the room she had ushered them into.

It was plain, white and square, quite small. The temperature had changed though, this room felt a lot warmer, and the four doors leading in all had keypads and various cameras dotted the room. The reason for all this security sat atop the various tables dotted around, each holding three eggs. The large eggs were a spectrum of colours, adorned with clashing patterns. Professor Willow shut the door behind her and typed in a code of some sort, the click of a lock was heard. "Now, bear in mind that the Pokémon you choose is expected to be treated well. And you can't just come running back because you don't like it. All these Pokémon will hatch when they're ready and don't expect them to be fighting champions straight away, its up to you as the trainer to help them grow." She said in a voice that hinted she had said this so many times already it was like a speech. "Have a look" she said with a nod towards the tables.

Without any more need to be told, Hayden rushed over to a table on the right side of the room while Jean began on the left side. She was already bending down to inspect one, Hayden was marvelling at the stripy pattern one he had found. "We can, if you wish, tell you which Pokémon is inside the egg. A lot of trainers wait for it to be a surprise though." Hayden heard Professor Willow as he scooped up a warm feeling egg, a bright yellow and streaked in thin black lines. He clasped his hands around it and gasped slightly as it wriggled a little. He smiled, this one felt sort of... right in his hands. Was this going to be his first ever Pokémon?

"Wow, Professor, it shook!" Jean cried, holding a slightly wobbling egg in her own hands. It was slightly orange and had dark red circles rotating the whole thing. Professor Willow chuckled. "Yes, I imagine they would, since they're very close to hatching.".

Positively beaming, Hayden held the yellow egg close to him, and made his way to the Professor. Jean joined him, clutching the pretty egg very close to her, it was still wobbling. "We've both chosen our eggs Professor" Jean said, flashing a smile at Hayden as she observed his egg out of the corner of her eye. Nodding, the Professor smiled. "Would you like to know what Pokémon they are?". Immediately, both Jean and Hayden shook their heads in union. "I think we'd both like to keep it as a surprise" Hayden spoke quietly, still a bit overwhelmed at finally receiving a Pokémon egg. Jean looked ready to bounce off the walls as Professor Willow reopened the door.

"Well, I've given you everything I must. I guess from now you might want to head over to the Pokémon Store and get some supplies, have a look around the city and then start on through Redville forest. Remember though, you can't fight until your Pokémon's hatched." She said, smiling as the two hitched they're bags up.

"We can't thank you enough Professor, you've no idea how long we've been waiting for this" Jean spoke fast, out of excitement. Hayden nodded vigorously. "Its really nice of you to take time out your schedule to do this for us" he gushed. She waved it away once again.

"Just doing my job. If you get the time, do drop by so I can see how they're doing, won't you?" she called as they made their way back down the hall.

The two walked in silence for a few moments, before looking at each other, eyes wide. "Wow!" they gasped in union.

"I think mine looks better than yours. I never really liked yellow" Jean teased, hugging her egg even closer. The two were slowly striding down one of Redville's many jam packed streets, making they're way to the looming five floor Pokémon Store. Hayden stuck his tongue out at her, his arms wrapped around his own egg.

"I can't wait until mine hatches now!. I'm guessing it'll be a electric type of some sort cos' of the yellow. When I first saw it I immediately thought of Beedrill because of the lines, but obviously Beedrill isn't a baby Pokémon" he consulted, dodging around a rushing woman with a briefcase. "Yours looks like a fire type, or maybe a rock type?" he pondered, while Jean proudly admired it.

"I hope its not too long, I don't think I can wait more than a few days!" she suddenly burst, as they turned into the street that the Pokémon Store stood on. It was easily the biggest building in the city, and once they entered they were bustled about by the sheer amount of trainers and other people buzzing around. They stopped next to a store map and began to discuss what to get.

"I think a few potions and antidotes should do" Hayden said, checking his wallet for the money his parents had saved up for him. It wasn't exactly a lot, but he'd survive. "Don't forget some Paralyze heals, Samantha told me that there's a lot of bug Pokémon in Redville woods" Samantha was Jean's older sister by five years. She was a very accomplished trainer, preferring not to take the Contest path like her little sister. Hayden had met her a few times and was deeply impressed by her Pokémon. Catching the lift to the fourth floor, the two stepped out into the mania again and struggled there way to a shelf packed with orange Potions.

"Man... remind me never to come to a Pokémon Store like this again" Hayden mumbled, elbowing his way through a group of shoppers who seemed intent on not moving. Jean followed, clutching the basket full of produce with her free hand, and almost toppled over a stray food box. Catching herself, she spotted a free till and dashed towards it. The rest had queues about ten minutes long already. Slamming into the counter, she dropped the basket on top and caught her breath. The spotty clerk looked amused and began to scan everything in, dropping the items into bags. "That's twenty five Pokedollars please" he said miserably. Hayden passed his hand of the price to Jean, and they collected they're change and bags and made for the lift and exit as fast as possible.

Stepping back outside into the sunshine, Hayden consulted his watch. "Its lunch time already Jean! We ended up spending almost two hours in their cos' it was so busy. I guess we should go grab some lunch and phone our parents at the Pokémon Centre before we leave for Redville woods?" he 

suggested along with a loud rumbling stomach. Rolling her eyes, Jean followed him as he set off towards the large red roofed building down the street.

"How can you still be eating?" Jean sighed, her hand in her palm, as her green eyes drifted to Hayden, sitting on the other side of the booth. He was digging into more fries from the food bar that any registered Trainer or Coordinator could help themselves to. A few other trainers dotted the lobby of the Pokémon Centre, and as usual, Chanseys and Nurse Joy darted this way and that.

Taking a big gulp and grabbing another handful Hayden grinned at her. "I'm a growing boy, I need nutrients and that" he said, stuffing more into his mouth. Jean herself had finished her own food almost twenty minutes before, but Hayden kept getting more. "Yes, because fries are packed full of nutrients" she said sarcastically. Her egg sat nestled on her bag next to her, as did Hayden's next to him. Popping the last few chips into his mouth he brushed his hands off. "Okay, okay I'm finished now. Let's go call our parents, Mum's gonna be over the mood about my egg". He fished up his egg carefully and grabbed his backpack as did Jean, and they both made their way to the video phones on the wall. These were free too.

They both set their bags by their feet and cradled their eggs in one arm, and picked up the receiver with the other. Jean's father and mother answered the phone, and Hayden's mum picked up. After showing their eggs and talking about their next plans, they said goodbye and hung up. Hayden breathed a sigh of relief. "My mum never fails to amaze me with the amount of useless information she comes out with when it comes to travelling. 'Make sure you use non biological washing powder because otherwise you'll come out in a rash down below'" he said, much to the roaring amusement of Jean. "Well, dad and mum just said be careful and phone them once we reach Hailen Town. And they're gonna get Samantha to contact me when she can, apparently she's really busy with training at the moment" she said as the two walked back out onto the street.

"Just think, it'll be us being busy with training soon enough" Hayden said with a dreamy smile across his face, which Jean mirrored for a while. That was until she let out a cry and toppled over a bin she hadn't seen. Colliding with the ground painfully, she let out an even louder shriek as her egg rolled from her grasp, and down the street narrowly avoiding a truck's thick wheel. "NO! MY EGG!" she screamed, leaping back up, her knees bleeding. Hayden let out a gasp as he tore after her, clutching his own egg even tighter.

Pounding along the street, and crashing into several angry shoppers, Jean's heart thudded. She hadn't even had her egg for a whole day and already she'd possibly lost it. What if it got hurt? Or what if someone else picked it up? A flash of red between a old woman's shoes informed her of its location, and she swung around a post apologising the old lady who began to curse after her, only to be bashed again by Hayden. Angry shouts followed him. "Sorry old lady!" he cried over his shoulder.

Jean's thighs ached now, and her breath was becoming ragged. Why hadn't anyone picked it up? But most of the people were to engrossed in their destinations to notice a small red egg rolling around there feet. "Noo... my egg!" she whispered to herself, leaping over a bin, her vibrant red locks catching the wind, and achieving a slipper landing. It was then that a bunch of people made there way across the road, leaving a large gap in the crowd, more importantly, her egg coming to a stop at 

a pair of feet, where a pair of hands stooped down and picked it up. "NOOOO!" she shouted, throwing herself at the boy who now held it.

With a crash and grunt of pain, Jean landed on top of the boy who slammed into the pavement. Hayden only just managed to skid to a halt, seconds away from toppling on the tangled mess. He bent double to catch his breath for the second time today and wiped sweat from his even messier blond hair. The boy that Jean had crashed into extracted himself from her legs, and jumped up, wiping dirt off his green jacket and blue jeans with a slightly annoyed expression. He had a small cut on his chin, and his brown hair streaked with blond was disarray. He still clutched the egg, which was now visibly vibrating. Jean lay on the street for a few seconds, receiving a lot of strange looks from passersby, and then leaped up, her chest heaving. She snatched the egg from the boy's hand with a glare and began to inspect it for damage while stroking it. The boy frowned, he was a bit taller than Hayden, and had deep hazel eyes. "Don't worry about it, me picking your egg up before it rolled onto the road and got squished, its fine. Oh, and thanks for the apology for throwing me to the floor" he said coldly, picking up his backpack, throwing it on his shoulder and stalking off.

"Thank god, it looks fine" Jean breathed, hugging it close. Hayden gave her a look, with raised eyebrows and she snorted in frustration. "Why are you giving me that look!" she cried, actually stamping her foot. Hayden whistled in amazement before replying rather flatly.

"That boy just stopped your egg getting run over, and the most you can do is snatch the egg off him and not even apologise". Red bloomed in Jean's cheeks as her mouth opened and closed, strangled sounds emitting. "Well... I... He shouldn't have gone snatching it up!" she hissed as she brushed herself off, determinedly not looking at Hayden. He sighed. "Next time let him know you want it to carry on rolling, probably under a car tyre, won't you?". Jean didn't say anything for a while and simply stared down at her egg.

"Well its not like I'm going to be seeing him again is it? Nothing to be done about it now so will you just –." She stopped short as her egg began to shake so violently that her arms were having difficulty staying still. She gasped, gave Hayden an excited look and quickly ducked into a cafe they were standing by. Sitting on the nearest table she carefully placed the wobbling egg on the table and gazed intently as cracks began to fissure across the red surface. Racing in after her, Hayden began to stare, rubbing his own egg.

Suddenly the egg let off a bright white light, which when faded away, was replaced by a small red Pokémon looking slightly confused. It had puffy red hair on its head, and a pointed yellow beak/shooter sort of thing for its mouth. There was silence for a second before Jean positively squealed in delight and scooped the little Pokémon up in her arms, showering it with kisses. "Wow! You're absolutely adorable!" she preened, patting his fluffy head. It looked up at her with a cute little grin and snuggled against her arm. It really was true, the first person the Pokémon saw they regarded as they're guardian of sort until they could look after themselves. While Jean hugged the Pokémon even tighter Hayden grabbed his Pokedex from his jean pocket and flipped it open, pointing it at the now snuggled red thing.

**Magby, the living coal Pokémon**

**Magby's state of health is determined by observing the fire it breathes. If the Pokémon is spouting yellow flames from its mouth, it is in good health. When it is fatigued, black smoke will be mixed in with the flames**. **It is found in volcanic craters. Its body heat exceeds 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, so don't underestimate it.**

"Well, he is really warm!" Jean said, as the Pokedex reported it was a male. The Magby looked up at her with another grin and a tiny yellow ember poofed from its mouth. She giggled and patted its head. "He's really cute" Hayden exclaimed, putting his Pokedex away and rubbing his egg even more intently.

"Isn't he just! We're going to look amazing for contests!" Jean replied, as Magby hopped onto the table and sat down. At the mention of contests he looked up at his new trainer clearly confused. "Oh.. well they're like shows were we get to dress up, and we make all our moves look beautiful! Then we fight against other Coordinators, which is what I am, and they're Pokémon. We'll be winning lots of ribbons for the Grand Festival!" Magby considered the information for a second. "Sound good?" Jean asked expectantly. Magby nodded vigorously and leaped up, striking a pose. It really was adorable. Jean giggled, and scooped him up again, clearly over the mood.

"This has hyped me up even more for when my egg hatches!" Hayden said with a grin as the two made they're exit from the cafe, Magby now safely in Jean's arms. "Hopefully it'll be soon!. Except I don't intend on rolling my Pokémon halfway down Redville before it does hatch" he said with a wink at Jean, who rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Hmm... its getting late already. Shall we just stay at the Pokémon Centre tonight? That way we can have a whole days worth ahead of us". Jean agreed it would be sensible, and the two headed back. Nurse Joy gave them keys to there own rooms, served up dinner and checked Magby, who was fine.

Scrambling into bed with a yawn, Hayden laid his head down on his pillow and gazed at his egg, this caught the moonlight through the window. _Whoever you are in there, good night_.


	2. Chapter 2: Just in the nick of time!

A big thank you goes to ReturnToJohto for my very first review, it's highly appreciated. I tend to get confused with the theres and when to use commas appropriately. Oh god, I can feel the fail in my English exam! D:. I also apologise for the strange paragraph breaks, I've no idea what's going on there . Any ideas on what it is?

Oh, and can anyone guess what Pokémon Hayden's egg will hatch into? It's blatantly obvious.

**Just in the nick of time!**

Waking up to pounding bangs on his room door, Hayden leaped out of bed, half clothed and scrambled to open the door. Instead of finding a frantic looking Nurse Joy or an angry looking Officer Jenny, he found a ecstatic and early bird Jean. Her eyebrows contracted slightly at his lack of clothes, and after bearing three full seconds of her taunting laughter he slammed the door shut, red cheeked, and told her to come back in twenty minutes. "Banging on my door like that, you'd think team rocket were here or something" he grumbled, slightly annoyed at being woken up so early. A glance at the small digital clock next to his egg told him it had just gone eight. He shook his head disbelievingly.

Little more than ten minutes later he was quickly scrubbing a towel across his wet hair and tugging on his socks, his bag and egg stood against the door ready. He was surprised that Jean wasn't banging on the door again, he could understand she was eager now her Pokémon had hatched, but that was no excuse; he needed his beauty sleep. He quickly made the bed, put the dirty towels in the laundry basket and made sure everything was switched off in the small room before proceeding into the hallway, he was going to miss sleeping in a proper bed, now that he and Jean were actually heading for Redville woods they'd be sleeping in their small tents for a while. Today he had fished out a red and white cap from his bag, it was still extremely hot and he didn't want his sleep to be anymore disturbed with sun burn. His egg, as normal, was nestled between his arms.

Jean waved to him from a booth by a large window, and pointed to a plate piled full of bacon, eggs and waffles. His stride quickened a little. She had politely waited for him before starting to eat, and wasted no time in beginning to chatter away about Magby, who she had named Ash. Apparently he liked to sleep against the wall, was fascinated by doorknobs and had an adorable laugh. Hayden just nodded, knowing that paying to much attention wouldn't stop the onslaught of pointless information. She had every right to be excited though, he supposed he'd be just as bad once his egg hatched.

"Come on Hayden! I want to get into the woods and see what Ash can do!" Jean moaned, patting the little Magby on the head, who was gobbling down Pokefood out of a small bowl. Hayden shook his head, biting into a waffle and swallowing.

"You are the one that gave me this much food Jean. Besides, unless you want me moaning I'm hungry, I'd just let me eat" he said with a smirk, watching his egg shake a little out of the corner of his blue eyes. She just sighed impatiently and began to watch Ash with a smile.

Once he had finished, he took the plates to a small wash stand while Jean thanked Nurse Joy and the Chansey who had showed them to their rooms the night before. Stepping back out into the early 

morning heat was a bit of a shock compared to the coolness of the lobby, Ash squirmed happily in Jean's arms though. Hayden already had his Pokedex out and was scanning the small map which was displayed on the screen. "Hmm... We need to go that way. It looks like we should be out of Redville woods by this time tomorrow" he told her, pointing to the opposite end of the city.

"I hope there isn't just bug types in Redville woods, I don't really think I'd like any of them" she said, Ash was playing with a silver necklace she had decided to wear today, apparently intent on making it fly.

"They're might be a flying type, a Pidgey or Taillow or something. Were not gonna' know until we get there I guess. I just wish my egg would actually hatch" Hayden replied, glancing down at his egg. He really did hope it hatched soon, so he could meet his first ever Pokémon. The way Jean was going on about Ash, he was beginning to feel a little jealous. "I'm sure it will. And when it does, me and Ash can beat you!" she said sticking out her tongue.

"Keep telling yourself that" Hayden retorted with a chuckle and a wink. Jean just laughed, and the two made they're way across one of the main roads, the small road they had to follow out of Redville city becoming visible. It was lined with back alley shops, and had a slightly grubby feel compared to the rest of the city, but it was far from quiet.

The two had to practically stick to each other's side to stop the bustling crowds pushing them apart. Coming from a small town like Strane, neither was used to so many people in the same place, and all walking in different directions. It was like being at the huge Pokémon Store all over again. Most of them were business people or frantic shoppers, but there was one boy about their age walking in their direction that caught Hayden's attention. And quite obviously Jean's as when he glanced at her, her cheeks were a deep red. The boy she had thrown herself on yesterday noticed her to, because he gave her a cold glare.

Jean looked away, and kept her eyes focused on Ash, who was slightly confused about all the people. Hayden however, tapped her firmly on the shoulder and lowered his voice. "Now's your perfect chance to apologise Jean. You were pretty rude". Frowning at him, she nodded. As the boy strode past, deliberately not looking at them, she stretched a hand to his shoulder.

He stopped, glanced down at her hand, and then at her with a flat look. He cleared her throat and gave a weak smile. She was clearly embarrassed, expecting, as she said, not to see him again. "I'd... I'd just like to say sorry for yesterday. I.. I was worried." She gushed quickly. He didn't answer, just carried on staring. "And.. Thank you. Without you, I think Ash might have been badly hurt" Jean said, attempting to look him in the eye. Hayden stood next to her, glancing between the two , and trying to be knocked over by the crowd.

The boy bent down slightly to look at Ash, and he smiled warmly at the Pokémon, even patting it on the head. Ash responded with his own smile, and giggled. Straightening, the boy faced Jean. "Its okay. Your Magby here looks pretty sweet" he replied finally. His brown and blond streaked hair now looked shiny and smooth, with a small fringe. Overall, he was pretty handsome.

"Oh, Ash is adorable! Aren't you little guy" Jean cooed, tickling the living coal Pokémon, who giggled again. "I'm Jean by the way, this is Hayden" she said, jostled slightly by a large man wearing a strange black suit emblazoned with a red letter that Hayden couldn't see. The man glanced over his 

shoulder at her for a few seconds, before crossing the road. The boy eyed Hayden for a minute before hitching his bag up. "I'm Callum" he replied, and then strode off, without looking back. Jean frowned.

"Rude! Walking off like that!" she hissed to herself as they joined the stream of crowds once again. Hayden shrugged, the boy was pretty quiet, but the entrance to Redville woods was up the small hill they were starting to walk, and spared no thought more on him. Jean muttered angrily to herself for a few more moments before smiling up at the entrance.

"So, when's your first Contest again Jean?" Hayden asked, wiping sweat from his forehead. The hill was a lot steeper than it seemed when you were at the bottom. Jean looked equally tired out now, Ash, finally deciding to walk, was bunny hopping and giggling. He was a bundle of energy; alright for him.

"In Orroro City, it's just east of Hailen town" Jean quickly replied, a small smile appeared on Hayden's face. He was sure she had looked up every Contest location and date on her Pokedex last night. She had a fiery spark in her eyes as she spoke about it; excitement seemed to thrash around her. "Your first gym is in Hailen Town, isn't it?" she asked, bending down to pick Ash up as they found themselves on flat ground, a slightly dusty path that led through Redville woods. No one else was there at the moment.

Hayden nodded. "Yep, but I still don't know what type of Pokémon the gym leader uses, so it's going to be a bit of a surprise. I know I'll be able to beat him though" he said with a cocky smile, shrugging slightly. Jean rolled her eyes as the two entered the slightly thick forest.

The path was pretty much straight, bushes and foliage of various berries and plants surrounded them, pushed up against the tree trunks. The two spotted a few wild Caterpie who stared at them until they were out of sight, and a large Wurmple who turned on its heel and ran at the sight of them, much to Ash's amusement. "I think we should have a battle, don't you Ash?" she asked her Pokémon with a confident grin. "Mag!" he agreed, clenching his tiny fist.

Right on cue, a skimpy purple looking Pokémon, which resembled a rat, hopped out of a nearby bush. It sniffed the air, and upon spotting Ash, bared its large front teeth defensively. Both Hayden and Jean flipped out there Pokedexes.

**Rattata.**

**Rattata is cautious in the extreme. Even while it is asleep, it constantly listens by moving its ears around. It is not picky about where it lives - it will make its nest anywhere. Its fangs are long and very sharp. They grow continuously, so it ****gnaws**** on hard things to whittle them down.**

"A Rattata!. Let's go Ash" Jean smirked as Ash bounded forwards to face the small rat Pokémon. Hayden watched eagerly, it would be strange watching Jean battle, but an experience to say the least. Excitement buzzed in him, it would be him doing this soon. The purple rat lowered its head a little, and then dashed at Ash.

"Let's see what you can do... Ember!" Jean commanded. However, Ash turned to stare at its trainer blankly. Jean seemed to falter as she realised that her Pokémon didn't know Ember yet, and then 

winced as Rattata bashed into Ash. Her stalling had cost the wild Pokémon a hit. Frowning she consulted her Pokedex frantically, checking for Ash's moves as he got back up, glaring at the wild Pokémon.

"Alright, Smog!" she exclaimed. Ash did know this attack obviously, as it thrust its beak forward, and a small purple thick cloud bust forwards, smothering the Rattata. Jean cheered slightly, and Ash beamed. A few seconds later, the Rattata bounded out of the cloud, coughing slightly. It was sweating a lot more than normal, if Hayden presumed it had been poisoned. This didn't stop it though, with a surprising burst of speed, the Rattata rammed into Ash's side, enveloped in a slight white light. The little Magby jumped up straight away, the Rattata was already rounding back for another assault. "Ash, use a Leer attack"

Ash's eyes glowed a menacing red and seemed to shine. The approaching Rattata slowed to a halt and took a hesitant step back, clearly frightened. "Excellent. Now tackle it!" Jean explained. Ash lowered his own head a little and charged, colliding with the Rattata. The little purple rat rose slowly, gave one last snarl at Ash and ran back into the bush he had appeared from. Ash leaped into the air with a cry of "MAGBY!", Jean punched the air to, and Hayden clapped. "Well done" he congratulated.

Jean scooped Ash up in a round of kisses and warm cuddles, Hayden simply chuckled. You would think the little Magby actually was Jean's own birth child the way she treated him sometimes. After saying that he had done well one last time, Jean returned Ash to his Pokeball. She spent a few moments staring down at the sphere with a large grin before returning it to the inside pocket of her cardigan with the rest of her Pokeballs. "Now you know what your up against" she teased. Hayden shook his head.

"Yeah, you just proved my theory that I'm gonna thrash you" he retorted. She aimed a punch at his shoulder, but he expertly leaped out of the way and she toppled slightly. Regaining her balance she joined in his laughing and they carried on along the small path.

The next two hours smoothed pretty smoothly. Jean and Ash managed to beat every Pokémon they met, which was quite a few, which left Hayden a lot of time just simply watching. He longed to be battling to, with whoever was in his egg. It shook every now and then, but it always had, and he concluded that it wasn't going to hatch today. Maybe he should call Professor Willow and make sure she had the time right with the estimated hatching. Ash had surfaced hours after Jean chose his egg. Maybe the Pokémon inside didn't want Hayden to be its trainer? A little knot of panic had formed when he thought of that, and had still not vanished as they neared a clearing. However, upon properly entering the round space, the two realised this wasn't normal.

A few thin tendrils of smoke rose up from large scorch marks in the messed up grass. Holes dotted the area, large holes that looked as if trees had stood there before. Perhaps the crunched up trees that were thrown on top of the charred ground. They two looked burnt out and some of them were hollow. Jean gulped, and quickly pulled out Ash's Pokeball. "What the hell?" she said quietly, eyes bulging.

"You took the words from my mouth" Hayden replied, suddenly clutching his egg very tightly. The place looked as if a giant had crashed through, he'd seen the sort of damage rampaging Tauros could 

do, but it didn't compare to this. And he had thought that was bad. He bent down to inspect a tree trunk that was torn in half and frowned. There were deep long scratches that ran along the trunk, and they looked pretty gruesome, this was certainly not Tauros, as he had first though. Jean was looking over his shoulder and mirrored the look of concern and worry that he had painted on his own face. His blue eyes echoed nerves.

"I don't know what done this, but I'm not really sure we should poke around. Whatever it is could come after us" Jean said, glancing around into the surrounding trees. Hayden didn't answer, but placed a hand to the charred earth. It was still a tiny bit warm.

"I think it might still be close, lets turn back" he said in a low voice. At this, Jean frowned and shook her head. Before Hayden could open his mouth to argue back, she had started on a rant.

"Hayden Ranner, I am not, and I repeat, NOT turning around the way we've just come!. We put off coming into here enough, even if it wasn't our fault, so we as may carry on!. You want to reach your gym battle don't you? Because I want to reach my Contest!, and turning around isn't going to get us there any quicker. So were going to go through this clearing and were not going to stop until we reach Redville lake, where we agreed to camp! Do you understand!" she said all in one breath, stopping to catch her breath. "Besides, whatever it is, me and Ash can take care of it" she sniffed, clutching the Pokeball close.

It was then that a loud, spine shivering roar echoed around the clearing, followed by a series of crashes. Hayden jumped, latching both his arms in a iron like grip on Jean's arm. She herself jolted, and then shoved Hayden away, fumbling with Ash's Pokeball. "Still want to carry on?" Hayden asked meekly, as another roar caused him to leap out of his skin. Jean visibly gulped, and both of them spun on there heels as the sound of tearing trees resonated from behind them.

With another roar, the trees which bordered the right side of the path they had entered from were tipped to the side. A large shadow formed into a colossal figure as it stepped out from the shade and covering of the tree tops, and Hayden let out a whimper. At least 6 feet tall, the hulking hair mass of a bear like Pokémon stomped towards the pair. Light brown with a circle of gold on its stomach area, it brandished glinting claws with another roar. "What are you waiting for!" Hayden whispered, nudging Jean. She tossed the Pokeball into the air, and in a flash of brilliant white light, Ash materialised. Upon seeing the hulking Pokémon, it squealed, rooted to the spot from fear.

"Ash.. use a S-Smog attack" Jean said with an attempt of calm, her voice cracked as the Pokémon neared them. The tiny Pokémon was dwarfed by the wild predator, but still, shaking with fright, it spewed a thick cloud of purple smoke. The Smog attack drifted around the tall Pokémon, but it simply strode through it, with another roar. "Jean, lets go, NOW!" Hayden cried, stepping back and almost tripping over a tree trunk. She ignored him though, issuing another command.

"Try an Ember attack Ash" she said in a strained voice. What was she doing? She had no idea. Ash took a few more steps back, staring up at the Pokémon, then puffed in its chest and exhaled, a small burst of fireballs bursting forwards. They struck the bear type Pokémon on its knees, the thing stopped and let out a grunt. Mentally congratulating Ash, Jean grabbed his Pokeball. She had overdone herself already, and now would be a good time to run.

However, the bear Pokémon had other ideas. With a swing of its right arm, it bashed Ash backwards, the little fire Pokémon rolled to Jean's feet. She let out a shriek and scooped him up. Hayden grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back as the Pokémon swung its claw at the space which had been Jean a few seconds before. "Were screwed!" he cried.

As he spoke however, he felt a vibrating feeling in his arms. Gasping and glancing down, he realised what was about to happen. Caught up in all the hubble and bubble of the events, Hayden had failed to notice the cracks that had spread across the vibrant yellow egg's surface. A bright white light enveloped the egg for a few seconds. Once the light had cleared, he found a little yellow Pokémon, its torso decorated with three black stripes and a small lightning bolt, and its ears shaped like plug prongs. Even Jean let out a small 'oooh'. "It... it hatched!" Hayden cried, the small yellow Pokémon looking up at his master with a smile.

The hulking bear Pokémon broke the momentarily nice scene with another cry, rushing forwards towards the pair. Hayden's newly hatched Pokémon growled and leaped forwards before he could catch it, and let out a cry as neon yellow electricity sparked into life between its ears. With another high pitched cry, the Pokémon let loose a thick bolt of thunder which struck the incoming bear thing in the chest. With a roar it stumbled backwards, its chest smoking a little. Then a deep, man's voice echoed around the clearing.

"Ursarang, return!". A thin beam of red light streaked between Jean and Hayden's heads, covered the Ursarang, and then retracted. Hayden spun to find the source of the light and saw a tall figure, half covered in shadow holding a Pokeball. As quickly as they had spotted him, the figure turned on its heels and disappeared into the forest. Silence resounded for a few seconds before Hayden, Jean, Ash and the newly hatched Pokémon collapsed to the floor with a sigh.

"Remind me to listen to what you say next time, Hayden" Jean breathed, brushing dirt from Ash's small scratch on his side. She pulled off her bag and sprayed a Potion on it. It immediately looked a little better, and with a hug and few murmured words she returned him to his Pokeball. Hayden was picking up his own Pokémon.

"Well, we never really got acquainted did we?. My name's Hayden, I'm your new trainer" he said with a smile and squeeze. The Pokémon returned the squeeze with a tiny jolt of electricity. Jean flipped out her Pokedex and pointed it at the yellow cat like Pokémon

**Elekid.**

**Elekid stores electricity in its body. If it touches metal and accidentally discharges all its built-up electricity, this Pokémon begins swinging its arms in circles to recharge itself. It loves violent thunder. The space between its horns flickers bluish-white when it is charging energy.**

"Elekid!" the Pokémon happily acknowledged its name. Hayden smiled. "Welcome aboard, Elekid. Or how about... Volt?" Hayden asked, the name was a bit of a cliché considering the Pokémon was an electric type, but Volt seemed to like it nonetheless, a few sparks bounced between its ears. Jean patted Volt's head. "He's really cute to!" she giggled.

"You were really brace back then you know Volt, jumping out in front of that Ursarang" Hayden complimented, placing a pole into the semi flat canvas of his tent. It stood up a little straighter, and was finally beginning to take shape. Volt scratched the back of his head and laughed. "If it wasn't for you we'd be bear meat by now. And that strange man" Hayden finished with a frown, inserting the final pole. He dusted his hands and stood back to observe it.

"I wonder who that man was. And why he was letting his Ursarang go bounding about and destroying the forest!" Jean scolded; her own tent was already set up. "Here, Ash can light the fire". In another flash of white, Ash appeared looking a lot better and happier than before. "Think you can use Ember to light the sticks?" Jean asked. Ash nodded, and spewed a few fireballs onto the sticks that Hayden had collected. Finally they're makeshift camp was thrown into light in the semi darkness that surrounded the clearing.

Ash and Volt approached each other slowly, and stood staring for a few seconds. Hayden and Jean exchanged tense looks, but the two Pokemon extended hands. Volt even let loose a tiny spark, which made Ash's puffy hair stand on end for a second. The two collapsed into laughter.

Hayden's stomach rumbled loudly as he sat down at the fire, warming his hands. Jean rolled her eyes; "I'll heat the water, you feed the Pokemon"


	3. Chapter 3: A first taste of defeat!

Thank you for the reviews guys!. I'm sorry this is a little late compared to the recent update, but I've got two solid weeks of exams so I've been revising and studying a lot. This chapter has a lot of battling in it, the last battle I'm very proud of. Another mention of the man with the Ursarang from before comes up, and next chapter it'll make a little bit more sense, also another familiar face shows up and battles both Hayden and Jean!.

**A first taste of defeat**

With another loud snore, Hayden rolled over in his sleeping bag, his face now inches from Volt's. The Elekid had a very annoyed expression on his face, and after several attempts of trying to shove Hayden off his small body, he let out a growl. It was early morning and although Jean had tried several times to wake Hayden up, it was apparent he wouldn't budge. This had caused her and Ash to become ticked off, as the night before they had agreed at getting up early in case the man and his Ursarang returned. Smirking slightly mischievously, Volt tensed his body and squeezed his eyes shut as small sparks fizzed to like between his prong like ears. "Elekiiiiiiiid" he cried, a bolt of electricity surging into Hayden.

Jean, who was now serving up bacon onto plates, let out a hearty laugh as Hayden's tent seemed to light up momentarily and a loud howl of pain sounded. Hayden himself came stumbling out of his tent with his hair on end and eyes bulging. Volt strode out after him, trying to hide a smug look. Hayden glared down at his Pokémon. "Gee thanks buddy" he muttered. Volt just shrugged and sat down next to Ash to begin his own breakfast that Jean had poured out.

"Well, you weren't getting up Hayden. Besides, me and Ash were going to leave soon, we've dawdled around enough as it is" Jean said, handing him a plate of bacon. He sat down grudgingly and scowled as he wolfed down the food. Hayden's rare strops were ridiculous. After eating, he returned to his tent to get dressed and sort out his hair. Jean and Ash packed up the tools and helped Hayden with his own tent. Hayden was over his strop now, picking up Volt and gazing round for a wild Pokémon. After a while, he gave up and concluded it was too early.

"Hey, Jean, there's a lake up ahead" Hayden told her, surprised as he read his Pokedex's map. Jean looked impressed to.

"I didn't realise it was so close. Maybe there's a cute Pokémon to be caught!" she sighed hopefully, glancing up at the lake that was only a few moments walk ahead. Ash and Volt were now striding together slightly in front of the trainers, talking excitedly and occasionally jumping up and down. Hayden watched them amused, and then a sudden thought came to him. He turned to Jean who was fixing her hair.

"Jean, I've just realised, we haven't had a battle yet". Jean pulled the brush through her hair one last time and put it back in her hair. "Your right! We haven't, and nows our perfect chance to kick your butt!" she smirked confidently, clenching a fist.

"We'll see about that one, me and Volt are gonna' crush you!" Hayden retorted. He called Volt over, as did Jean with Ash, and they separated slightly on the path so that they faced each other. "Lets go 

Volt, our first battle!" Hayden told the Elekid as it turned to face Ash. "Lets show them what we can do, Ash".

"Okay, let's start things off with a Smog attack" Jean commanded. Ash tossed its head forward as a stream of thick purple smoke flowed from his beak. The smoke pushed towards Volt in a channelled stream now, instead of just a random shaped cloud. Jean saw Hayden's eyebrows rise in surprise and she smirked. "While you were dozing off this morning me and Ash had a little contest practice and learned how to direct Smog". The surprise of the new technique meant that Hayden had failed to tell Volt to dodge, and the smoke descended on his Pokémon, he could hear him coughing.

"Volt, get out of there with Quick Attack" he called into the smoke. A few seconds later a white and electric blur that was Volt streaked from the smoke, and crashed into Ash who toppled backwards a little. "Good, now use Leer!" At the same time however, Ash had jumped back up to face Volt and Jean had commanded it to use Leer also.

The two Pokémon's eyes glowed a deep red, and they glared intensely at each other. The attacks cancelled each other out. "Alright Ash, Ember!" Ash took a running leap so that he was momentarily air borne, and fired a small storm of fireballs down on Volt."Volt, brace yourself" Hayden called. Volt raised his small arms and took the fireballs with a grunt.

"Use another Quick Attack to get yourself into the air" Hayden called with a smirk; he already had a small strategy in mind. While Jean was rash and acted on impulse, Hayden liked to think ahead. Volt nodded and began at a blinding dash, and then all of a sudden, launched into the air a lot higher than Ash had been. "Now, Thundershock!"

"Elekid Ele!" Volt cried, a thick surge of electricity bouncing from in between his ears to strike Ash. The Magby took the hit and shook his head a little. "Fight back with a Smog again". Another thick column of smoke spread towards Volt and engulfed the Pokémon before it landed. "Now fire off another Ember". Another horde of fireballs plagued into the smoke, Hayden heard Volt grunt again. He bit his lip. "Volt, Quick Attack yourself outta' there" Hayden exclaimed. Once again, Volt burst from the smoke in a blur of white, and slammed into Ash. Both Pokémon were beginning to look exhausted now, it had been a long battle considering they were starters.

"Ash, tackle it!" The Magby bounded forwards on its legs, ready to collide with Volt. "Jump up to dodge it" Hayden called out. A few seconds before Ash would have crashed into Volt, he leaped up into the air leaving Ash to topple over, and for Volt to slam all is weight down on Ash. The Magby let out a cry of pain, but threw Volt off his back and spun around growling.

However, a loud splashing noise caused both trainers to turn their heads to the close bank of the lake. On the grass stood a small blue Pokémon, with a long snout like mouth and a stripy underbelly. It had a curled up tail that it balanced on, it sort of resembled a sea horse. Neither of them had seen it before, and they exchanged excited looks. Hayden yanked his Pokedex from his pocket and aimed it at the Pokémon.

**Horsea**

**It maintains balance using its tail, which is wound up like a coil. Horsea eats small insects and moss off of rocks. If the ocean current turns fast, this Pokémon anchors itself by wrapping its tail around rocks or coral to prevent being washed away.**

Both trainers glanced down at they're Pokémon, and then rushed forwards. Apparently, the presence of a new Pokémon was a lot more important than they're battle. Or maybe they'd just completely forgotten about it. Jean glanced at Hayden and Volt who were catching up on them and narrowed her eyes. "Stay back Hayden, that Horsea is mine!" she called.

"No way, I saw it first!" He cried back, now level with Jean and Ash. The Horsea was just sitting on the bank looking at the incoming trainer's quite curiously. Jean put on an extra burst of speed, which was mirrored by Hayden. It was obvious that they were both going to reach it at the same time, and they had both obviously thought of the same strategy as they cried commands while running. "Ash, use Ember" "Fire off a Thundershock."

The running Pokémon leaped into the air as they registered they're trainer's commands. A group of whistling fireballs streaked forwards from Ash's beak, while a surge of lightning bounced along the grass towards the Horsea. The little blue water Pokémon casually bounced upwards, both attacks collided together creating a sparkle of red and yellow. Hayden and Jean skidded to a halt, and glared at each other. "This Horsea's mine, back off Hayden!" Jean spat.

"You wish! Me and Volt will take it; we've got the type advantage!" Hayden retorted. As the trainer's carried on to shout, Ash and Volt shared dismayed looks and sighs, shaking they're heads.

"Humph! We'll see, Ash, Ember again" Jean said, turning away from a red faced Hayden and flicking her hair over her shoulder rather annoyingly. Fireballs scorched the Horsea's underbelly, and it recoiled slightly, before frowning angrily. Its own projectiles burst out of its snout, but bubbles this time, sending Ash sprawling. It looked like it had done a lot of damage, Bubble was a water based attack.

"Volt, Thundershock it" Hayden sneered as Ash rose back to his feet. Volt swung its arms a little bit like a windmill, and the sparks extended into a bolt of electricity which blasted the Horsea back. It landed in the pond with a splash, but immediately leaped back out, positively fuming now. It threw back its head and launched an even stronger assault of bubbles at Volt, who took a bit more damage than normal because of his and Ash's battle. As Hayden opened his mouth to call out another attack however, Jean and Ash jumped forwards.

"Smog and Ember straight after" She commanded. This time the Smog swirled around the Horsea in seconds, which was punctured by the Ember attack, it looked a lot stronger than before. The little Horsea let out a squeal of pain, and near collapsed; Jean pulled out a Pokeball from her cardigan and tossed it. A red beam enveloped the Horsea, and the Pokeball began to shake. Once... twice... three times. Ash and Jean exchanged surprised looks; the Magby picked up the Pokeball and handed it to her. She gazed down at it slightly taken aback. Hayden crossed his arms and frowned, Volt however, high fived Ash in congratulation.

"Wow... I made my first catch" Jean said to herself more than anybody else, and then smiled proudly at Ash, patting him on the head. "Well done Ash!" she preened, returning the Pokeball containing Horsea to her cardigan pocket. She caught site of Hayden's face and chuckled. "Oh come Hayden, 

there's going to be plenty of other Pokémon out there your gonna' catch!" she said, patting him on the back. With a sigh he replied. "I suppose". Volt patted him on the leg with a little shock.

Much to Jean's annoyance, Hayden decided to stop for a little while, so they could have a proper lunch and train while they were doing it. Jean moaned and whined, but once he pointed out that it would be a ideal time to meet her new Horsea, her moans mumbled off and she eagerly pulled out they're pots, pans, plates and tins of pasta they were going to have. Ash quickly ignited the fire, and soon enough they're food was boiling away. Hayden and Volt now stood near the trees, and Volt was practising aiming its Thundershock at sticks which Hayden tossed into the air. So far he seemed to be doing well.

Jean sat on a large rock by the fire while Ash munched away on Pokémon food. She pulled out Horsea's Pokeball and pressed the enlarge button so it swelled up about three times as big. Clearly excited, she pressed the centre button again and it popped open, the white light shaping into Horsea. The little water Pokémon glanced around at its surroundings looking a little confused, perhaps it had been expecting to be somewhere else than back to where it used to live. By consulting her Pokedex quickly, Jean discovered it was a female, the first girl addition to her team. She finally turned to face her new trainer and looked blankly up at her.

"Hey there" Jean smiled. The Horsea just continued to stare at her. She frowned, she was expecting at least some sort of reaction. She waved a little, but the Horsea's stare never faltered. Getting to her hands and knees in front of her new Pokémon, she stooped so she was looking at the Horsea in the eyes and smiled again. "I'm Jean and I'm the one tha-." Halfway through her sentence Horsea puffed in her chest and released a spew of bubbles at Jean's face. She was knocked back into the rock by the Bubble attack. She wiped at her face and glared angrily at Horsea, who was rolling on the floor in hoots of laughter.

"That wasn't very nice!" Jean huffed. The Horsea finally sobered up and smiled, bouncing up and down. Apparently it liked to play jokes. Jean simply shook her head and extended a hand to pat her on the head. "That's Ash over there, he'll be your new team mate" she pointed. Ash glanced up from his lunch and waved with a warm smile, pushing the bowl closer to Horsea with its head, as if to share. Horsea smiled back and lowered its head to start eating, making happy hooting noises. "Why don't we call you something pretty, just like you? Something contest like... Jade!" Jean said with a click of her fingers. Jade could only hop up and down since its snout was full of food, but she seemed to like it.

Once her Pokémon had finished and she had checked on her and Hayden's own lunch, Jean decided that she should get to training to. After a little thinking she concluded that working on her Appeal would be more logical since first impressions were everything in her own books. She had originally intended to use Ash through the whole Contest, but a mere hour after catching Jade it made her wonder. Contestants were allowed to use a different Pokémon from their Appeals in the battle stages, and since Jade appeared to be the weaker of the two it made sense to play to her strengths and use Ash for the battling alone. Once Ash was working on his Ember by firing the fireballs at strategically set up rocks, Jean turned her attention to Jade. The Horsea seemed to understand the concept of Contests well. "Okay, I think we should work on your actual entrance first, from your Pokeball." Jean held up the Pokeball as she explained. It now had a clear casing over it, and two 

small stickers, one blue and star shaped the other a darker blue sparkle. These stickers would cause affects once the Pokeball was used, perfect for Contests.

"Your a very cute Pokémon, so I'm thinking some sort of cute jump?" Jean said, sitting down opposite Jade and crossing her legs, scratching her chin. Jade seemed to consider for a few seconds before bouncing up on its tail and winking. Jean smiled, it was rather cute. "That's good, but I think we need something more noticeable". This time Jade leaped higher and spun a few times, landing with a whirl, wobbling a little. Jean clapped. "Your a natural!".

As Jean and Jade continued to work on the Horsea's appeal entrance, they didn't seem to notice a familiar boy making his way up the path that they themselves had raced up. His brown – blonde streaked hair was styled perfectly as always, and a slight smile spread across his face at the sight of Jean, who was trying to indicate to Jade how to twirl through the air. It was a slightly strange sight. Raising a mocking eyebrow he deliberately coughed audibly. Suddenly Jean jumped and spun on the spot, red deepening her cheeks at the sight of Callum. It only took her a few seconds to regain her posture, and she stood before him with arms crossed and a attempt at calm on her face. Jade looked up at her trainer, and then at Callum.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon, Jean" he said finally, surprisingly politely. It seemed as if he'd accepted her rather rash and hasty apology. He let his bag drop to his feet and glance around the pond bank with hazel eyes. Jean replied just as politely.

"I could say the same for you. I'd have thought you'd be off training for the Gym in Hailen Town, like Hayden" she gestured over to Hayden and Volt, who had obviously noticed Callum's arrival and were strolling over. Hayden waved his greeting to Callum, the good looking boy returned it. "I was earlier, I decided to head into Hailen as fast as I could though, so after getting my badge I could focus properly on the contest in Orroro. Your participating I take it?"

Jean's jaw literally dropped as Callum spoke about being a contender in the contest, and Hayden stifled a laugh. She hadn't seen that coming, it sort of made the two rivals, since they were both going to be trying for the same ribbon. Stammering a little, she brushed red bangs from her face quickly and her reply came a little to fast. "Of course. Ash and Jade are going to steal the show"

Callum smiled warmly and nodded. Considering the boy's previous behaviour and attitude towards Jean, he was being surprisingly nice and respectful. "They certainly have wonderful potential, especially Jade. She seems to be a beauty" he murmured, gazing down at the Horsea. "I'm going to try my best, this will be my first ever contest so I'm a little nervous." He shrugged. "But a lot more excited than nervous." He resolved with a slightly dreamy grin.

"Did I hear that your entering the Gym challenge to?" Hayden asked curiously. Volt was now consulting with Jade, obviously intrigued by the new Pokémon. Jade didn't seem to be intimidated by the electric type, and simply bounced up and down at everything Volt said. The Elekid seemed a little confused as to why the Horsea was so hyperactive, and in the end gave up on trying to have a conversation with her.

"Indeed. I'm more of a contest person but I really want to put my Pokémon's meddle to the test and see how far we can go. Maybe we'll face each other in the League" Callum replied with a smile. 

Hayden nodded enthusiastically; talk of the League already was riling him up. Jean fiddled with the belt of her dress and looked as if she was holding something back. Biting her lip she finally spoke.

"Callum, I was wandering whether you'd like to have a battle?. I'd really like to be able to see what I'm up against" she breathed. Callum's handsome face lit up with a warm smile and one hand slipped to his jacket and pulled open one side. A long strap of material fastened with clips was stitched onto the inside, containing three Pokeballs. It looked a lot like the belt Hayden wore, but smaller. He plucked off the middle sphere and readied himself. "I'd love to"

The fact that Callum had three Pokémon interested Hayden greatly, he seemed to be very confident, he might be a good battle for Volt. But he had said he wanted to reach Hailen Town quickly, and probably wouldn't want to dawdle around for another battle, and a sudden idea struck Hayden. As Jean and Callum stretched out a space between them, Hayden spoke. "Hey... how about we have a double battle Callum?". He looked up at Hayden's idea and frowned in confusion, Jean also raised her eyebrows a little.

"Well, you face both me and Jean in a Pokémon battle. We use one Pokémon each, you use two. I've heard that's what the leaders of one of the Gyms do." Hayden suggested, Volt already looked up at his trainer confidently. Callum considered the idea for a moment and then nodded, waiting for Hayden to stand next to Jean who looked a little nervous about the idea. "Jade, lets go" "Volt, were up". The named Pokémon placed themselves in front of they're trainers, awaiting Callum's chosen Pokémon. After picking out the first Pokeball from his jacket, Callum grinned with anticipation.

"Its been a while since I've had a good battle." He enlarged the balls and twirled, tossing the two spheres into the air. The Pokeballs themselves spun and then released white lights. As they did so Callum called out in a rather bravo show voice. "Its show time, Baltoy, Spheal!". The two beams of light morphed into a small round shape, revealing a seal type looking Pokémon, with small flippers and fangs compared to its balloon like body, blue in colour with a tan underbelly. The other looked like a strange sort of totem, with long rock arms, a spinning top looking torso and a face that looked painted on. Hayden and Jean pulled out they're Pokedex's and were already ramming buttons.

_**Baltoy**_

_**Clay Doll **__**Pokémon**__**, As soon as it spots others of its kind, Baltoy congregates with them and then begins crying noisily in unison. This Pokémon sleeps while cleverly balancing itself on its one foot.**_

_**Spheal,**_

_**Clap Pokémon, Spheal is much faster rolling than walking to get around. When groups of this Pokémon eat, they all clap at once to show their pleasure. Because of this, their mealtimes are noisy.**_

The whole entrance of the Pokémon had been very smooth. Jean looked very impressed, and exchanged glances with Jade. Hayden however thought it was just strange, but he reminded himself that contests were a whole new world to him. Spheal began to clap happily at the prospect of a battle. "Lets start off with Powder Snow Spheal, Baltoy use Confusion!" Callum commanded with a 

hand gesture. Spheal rolled forwards and opened its wide mouth. A gust of powdery snow blustered forwards on a sheet of wind, sweeping across Jade and Volt before they could react, leaving them slightly damaged and shivering. Baltoy's eye slits glowed a bright blue and some sort of distortion through the air launched itself at Volt.

"Volt, use Quick attack to dodge and fire a Thunderbolt at Baltoy!" Hayden called.

"Use Bubble on Baltoy Jade" Jean exclaimed. Volt burst around the strange distortion in a blur of white and was releasing a stream of electricity while Jade spewed bubbles. The Thunderbolt however, struck Baltoy head on and left no mark of damage, the Psychic type didn't even flinch. Hayden mentally cursed himself, Electric type attacks had no affect on Baltoy, it was part Ground!.

"Spheal, a Defence Curl will block that Bubble attack" Callum told his Pokémon, which immediately rolled in front of its partner and curled up. The Bubbles bounced off near harmlessly. Jean and Hayden exchanged looks.

"Volt can only do damage to Spheal, and Jade can only really hurt Baltoy, so lets focus on our own opponents" Hayden told Jean, who nodded in agreement. "Volt, Thundershock on Spheal Asap!"

"Jade, a Bubble if you please, at Baltoy". Jade puffed in her chest and spewed a thick stream of Bubbles which burst against the Baltoy, the Psychic Pokemon let out a growl of pain. "Spheal use Defence Curl again followed by a Water Gun" Callum issued. The Thunderbolt struck the curled up form of Spheal, it let out a squeal as it unfurled but still looked ready for more. It shot out a jet of sparkling water at Volt, who simply shook the attack off.

"Long range doesn't seem to work." Hayden muttered quickly to himself. "Get in close with Quick Attack and grab a hold of Spheal". Volt nodded quickly before running full pelt in a blur of white at Spheal. Callum's eyes narrowed at the oncoming Elekid. "Jade, use another Bubble, its ground weakness is getting to it". Jade bounced a little closer to Baltoy, spewing more bubbles than before. A few more of those and it looked as if the Baltoy would be down and out for the count. It was defiantly the strongest Pokémon present but its weakness wouldn't let it stand up much longer.

Callum quickly grinned as the bubbles and white blur of Volt closed in on his Pokémon. "Baltoy, a Rapid Spin and Mud Slap combination if you'd please" He said with a calm twirl of his hand. He certainly did act like a stereotypical Coordinator in battle, constantly cool calm and collected. His Baltoy began to twirl on its spinning top like point, and within a few seconds was a tan and red coloured blur. The Bubbles popped on instant contact with the spinning Pokémon. It then dipped its small arms into the ground, spraying mud in all directions, specifically towards Volt. The flying mud flew into Volt who stumbled in its Quick Attack, the ground attack might be relatively weak but it done more damage against a Electric type like Volt.

Volt picked himself up quickly however and bounded the small distance between him and Spheal. Callum hadn't betted that Volt would survive the Mud Slap, but he quickly had his hands around Spheal's round body. "Now, Thunder shock with all you've got!" Squeezing his eyes shut with sparks dancing into life between his ears and on his arms, Volt let out a loud cry as surges of point blank range electricity burst into Spheal. "Baltoy, use Rapid Spin to knock Volt off!" Callum cried out quickly.

"Try a Smokescreen to block it" Jean called to her Horsea. Jade's snout flared as a surprising amount of thick black smoke consumed her and the surrounding area which the Baltoy was now viciously spinning through. However, the intensity of the spinning created gusts and bursts of air around it so that it easily made a path through the smoke, finally crashing into Volt who was still shocking a squirming Spheal. Volt flew back several paces, landing face down in the dirty grass, but eventually got up, wincing. Spheal however, let out a tiny squeal before falling back, fainted.

"Well done Spheal, you done very well friend" Callum said slightly saddened as the red beam from the Pokeball he held enveloped his fainted Pokémon. His fallen Pokémon however only seemed to steam him on. "Baltoy, use Confusion to attack Jade". His Pokémon complied and the strange same distortion as before burst from its body and whistled through the air.

"Quick Attack, hit that Baltoy as fast as you can" Hayden exclaimed hastily. Volt, now on his feet, rushed forwards again and swerved around Jade as the Confusion attack hit head on. The Horsea recoiled on the floor before rising again, looking determined. Baltoy let out a odd sort of chime as Volt crashed head on, but strangely didn't budge. "Baltoy uses its psychic abilities to stabilise itself in earth's gravity. Now, Psybeam!"

A dazzling multicoloured beam burst forwards from Baltoy's eyes. Volt's cry of pain echoed around the pond as it was sent reeling up into the air in an array of dazzling lights. Hayden gasped as Volt fell straight back to the grass with a muffled thud. Volt slowly sat up, mumbling as he rubbed his bashed head. "You've done enough Volt, rest up" Hayden told his Pokémon. Volt shot Hayden a defiant look, but let the red light absorb it back into his Pokeball. Hayden sighed, he was out of the battle, but he had still managed to take down Callum's Spheal. The boy was very talented, especially with smart strategies and combination moves with Baltoy. It was all up to Jean to win now.

"Jade, while its recovering use Bubble" she called, brushing red bangs from her face. If the two did face each other in Orroros' contest it was going to be hard, and it was obvious she had to do a lot more training. Jade leaned forward, bubbles striking Baltoy as it gained its breath from the Psybeam attack. "Alright Baltoy, Harden yourself". Baltoy seemed to take on a sheen and shine a little more. Jean frowned; it was a pretty useless attack by the looks of it. Sure it raised the Pokémon's defence, but it seemed like a waste of a move. "Another Bubble attack I think Jade" Jade bounced closer, standing on the tip of its curled tail and a torrent of bubbles was launched.

Baltoy, who had been using Harden again and again, didn't seem to be taking much damage from the water attack. Staying stock still thanks to its psychic abilities, it was a lot shinier than before, and finally after the seventh time of using Harden, Callum issued a order. Hayden was now sitting on the floor watching the battle intently. "Rapid Spin into Jade".

Baltoy spun on the spot for a few seconds before launching itself at Jade in a flurry of grass and dust. It whirled through the air and with a horrible crunch, smashed into Jade's small form. Jade was flung back, stopping with a crash against a rock that Ash had been practicing on before. To no one's surprise, she didn't get back up. Jean stood still for a few seconds, her mouth hanging open in surprise before recalling her Pokémon. Callum congratulated his Baltoy before recalling it and returning its Pokeball to his jacket. Hayden let out a long held in breath and stood up to brush himself off, while Ash made his way to Jean who looked disappointed. "That was a really good idea Callum! Using Harden to make Baltoy's Rapid Spin a lot more tougher was smart, huh Jean?"

Jean nodded slowly, staring down at her feet. She felt stupid, she thought she was ready for the contest after two small days of setting off. Callum had obviously trained a lot harder than her, and it had resulted in a smart defeat. Callum noticed Jean's disappointment and patted her shoulder. "I really liked the idea of trying to stop Baltoy with a Smokescreen. Its move uses like that that score you big points in contests. I think your going to be a difficult opponent in Orroro" he said kindly. "I wish you best of luck in your first gym battle if I don't see you before Hayden, I hear the leader mainly uses Rock types." Picking up his bag, and smiling warmly at both trainer and coordinator he strode off around the pond and into the woods.

Jean had picked Ash up now, and watched the spot where Callum had entered the woods intensely. "Looks like were going to have a tough fight Ash" she told Ash before turning back to a rather annoyed looking Hayden. She raised an eyebrow.

"We forgot about the food!" he yelled, pointing to a black mess in the pan that had been pasta. Jean giggled, throwing her red hair behind her with a new found smile. Hayden found it the opposite of amusing and moaned about being hungry while they packed up they're cooking things. Jean just told him that they would reach the Pokémon Centre soon so that he could pig out on the buffet, and he soon spoke of hurrying up again. She was more eager to heal up Jade and start training again.

Soon enough the two had used the same small thin path has Callum had and were making they're way away from the pond, unaware that a tall, brutish looking shadow stood silently in the bushes. The figure stepped onto the path as the two rounded a corner and pulled out a small black walkie talkie device. Raising it to his mouth, the figure spoke in a deep mans' voice. "Elise, Alex, a few rookies are heading your way."


	4. Chapter 4: Enter Team Rocket!

I thought that I'd receive at least one review about the cliff hanger  
I hate being kept in suspense about things, so I feel your pain. Sort of... since I actually know who they are xD. If you haven't guessed, Jean seems to feel some sort of rivalry with Callum because of her easy defeat. Callum is pretty much a nice guy, and so you'll probably see some scenes where Jean's taking his actual kindness as an insult xD. Except he won't be around again until around Chapter 10. Chapter 6 or 7 is when we'll be seeing Hayden up against the first gym leader, which I can imagine your all thinking 'OH ROCK TYPE FOR FIRST GYM EH?'  
Well, it might seem typical, but the other types are different from the usual line up. Anyways, enough chitter chatter and let's get on with the chapter and find out who Elise and Alex are!

**Enter; Team Rocket!**

Jean let out a low grumble as she felt more thorns dig into her ankle through her socks, and swung a stick at a bush in an attempt to vent her anger. She glared up at Hayden's back, but only had a few seconds warning as a branch he had been pushing out of his way swung back and missed the top of her head by inches. "That is IT Hayden Ranner!" she cried, stomping the last few feet out of the dangerous undergrowth and stumbling onto a large dirt path. "If we follow any more of your shortcuts I'm going to get Ash to burn your behind so much that-".

"Oh do be quiet Jean, some of us are trying to look for Pokémon" he smirked over his shoulder. She didn't respond but began to snap her twig into pieces while looking daggers at him. Hayden had thought it would be a good idea to follow his instincts and find shortcuts of his own instead of following the map feature on his Pokedex. The result had been an hour added onto the estimate arrival of the path and a very bad mooded Jean.

Hayden held his hand up against the setting sun's rays as he glanced up and down the path they landed on, checking which direction Hailen Town was. Soon enough he had spotted the few tall buildings from Hailen, and possibly even the gym roof, a square block of rock and cement it looked like. That caused a little somersault in his stomach, and he turned away, scanning the trees for a sign of a wild Pokémon. Ever since Callum had told him that the first gym leader used Rock Pokémon, Hayden had become worried. Something that Jean had apparently caught on. She strode to stand next to him and observed him harshly with narrowed eyes.

"What's wrong Hayden? What's with the sudden rush to find another Pokémon?" she asked, crossing her arms. He looked away before replying.

"Oh you know... I think Volts getting lonely, that's all" he coughed, starting towards some more bushes. Jean shook her head.

"He's got Jade and Ash for company at the moment" she snapped. He had his back to her as he bent down to inspect the bush, but she could still see his ears reddening.

"I just want a new Pokémon, is that alright!" he said acidly as he realised there was no Pokémon lying dormant in the bush and spun round to face her, looking annoyed. She raised an eyebrow, but he shrugged. "Now shall we just start making our way to Hailen again?" Jean opened her mouth to 

say something but he held up a hand. "End of discussion". She glared at him from the corner of her eyes as she followed him through a small opening. Why she was following him she didn't know, since they could easily just have made their way down the dirt path leading directly to Hailen Town.

Hayden sighed to himself, quickly checking over his shoulder to see if Jean was still glaring at him. She was now engrossed in studying something on her Pokedex, he breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't understand, and talking to Jean about what was wrong seemed a little... strange. Besides, he knew she'd poke fun at him nonstop. Sniffing a little, he turned his attention to the surrounding trees.

They were pretty much the same as all the other trees and bushes in the huge woods of Redville, tall and thick and brown. There were a few wild Taillow flying about above the tree tops and some scurrying Spinarak that fled at the sight of him. Hayden sighed again; these Pokémon weren't exactly what he was looking for. He had battled most of these wild Pokémon anyways for experience or training ever since Volt had hatched.

A sudden rustling noise brought him to a halt in his steps, and Hayden whirled round to the source of the noise. The small bush shook a little more before a small pink dinosaur looking Pokémon stepped out, its pinkish eyes darting around. Once it saw Hayden staring at it, it hissed and bared its fangs. Its small barbs on its back pricked up and its very large ears straightened. "Whoa! I haven't seen one of those before!" The Pokémon was stepping back slowly, as if retreating back into the bush. "I choose you, Volt" Hayden unclipped Volt's Pokeball and tossed it into the air, releasing him.

Jean had finally caught up with Hayden and stood a little behind him observing the scene. She pulled her baby pink Pokedex out and after pressing a few buttons it began to bleep information to her in a monotonous voice.

_**Nidoran, Male.**_

_**The male Nidoran has developed muscles for moving its ears, which allow free movement. It is small, but its horn is filled with poison. It charges then stabs with the horn to inject poison.**_

"Alright Volt, this Nidoran is ours. Start off with Quick Attack" In a blur of white Volt shot forwards and collided seconds later with the Nidoran, which flipped up into the air with a cry. As it fell an orangey glow shadowed its eyes briefly and its leg muscles seemed to grow. Landing on its four feet with a thud in front of Volt, it jumped up and struck out twice with its small feet, causing Volt to cascade backwards. Hayden gasped, from such a small Pokémon it was a strong attack.

"According to my Pokedex it used Focus Energy Hayden, it must have concentrated on improving its attack while it was falling" Jean told him.

"Hmm... that was a smart move Nidoran, I'll give you that." Hayden murmured. "You okay Volt? Good, Thundershock!" Light blue sparks burst from his body and bounded towards the Nidoran, striking the wild Pokémon on its horn. It squealed as the attack hit, but still stood its ground. It bared its fangs and bounced forwards to meet Volt. It thrust its horn to strike his shoulder and then began to peck at him.

"Shake him off with a Leer Volt" Volt's eyes grew a menacing red, and the Nidoran seemed to tense up, taking a few steps back. "Now, Thundershock it again." Another burst of electricity jolted into the Nidoran, and once the attack halted it was slightly smoky. Hayden grinned. "One more attack should do it Volt." Hayden readied himself for his first ever catch, excitement coursing through him, and brushed some stray blond hair from his eyes as he yanked a Pokeball off his belt.

However, at that moment an ear splitting crash resounded in the woods, causing Jean, Hayden and Volt to shriek in shock, and for the Nidoran to bound back into the bushes. After getting over the initial shock of what had happened, Hayden let out a few choice words and stamped his foot. "It got away!" he shouted to no one in particular. Volt looked a little annoyed at his possible new team mate escaping, but shrugged it off and strode back over to his trainer's side.

"More importantly, what the hell was that noise?" Jean barked, glancing around nervously. The last time they heard a loud noise it had almost ended up in them being Ursarang meat. She let her fingers drift to the inside of her cardigan, ready to whip out Jade or Ash's Pokeball straight away.

Another loud crash, metal on tree, sounded again. It seemed closer this time, at least thats what Jean thought. The roaring of some sort of engine or motor died away, and a few shouts echoed. Hayden shared a concerned look with Jean. "Who do you think it is?" Hayden muttered quietly.

Jean shrugged. "Beats me. As far as I know there'd be no reason for someone to have something with an engine in the middle of here." Voices could be heard now, on the other side of some trees. Gulping, she tightened her grip on her Pokeballs.

The most strangely dressed pair of people Hayden and Jean had ever seen stepped through the trees. Both were taller than either of them, and adults by the look of them. One was a woman, with a slim build and fair complexion. She had short bright green hair which was styled in a bob, slightly ruffled. There were a few blond streaks in the fringe. She wore a black cardigan which had a large red R blazoned across the chest, a black tank top underneath and black trousers and high boots. It looked to be some sort of uniform. The man standing next to her wore exactly the same thing except had a button up jacket instead of a cardigan. He had bright blue eyes and short purple hair with a spiky fringe that leant to one side. At the sight of Jean, Hayden and Volt they smiled with narrowed eyes.

"Well... Zack was certainly right Alex, they do seem to have a look of spirit about them, don't they?" the woman asked with a little laugh. Her acquaintance, Alex, nodded with a smirk.

"It always seems so much funnier when they're full of spirit." Alex murmured.

Hayden looked at Jean, who was obviously stifling a laugh at the pairs ridiculous outfits. Coughing back a chuckle himself, Hayden turned to the pair. "Err... who are you?" he asked rather bluntly. A rather annoyed expression flitted across the woman's face for a second.

"Can you not tell by the uniforms?" Alex asked sounding rather scandalized. After a few seconds of Jean and Hayden shaking their heads blankly, he growled. It was a strange noise coming from a man. "Humph! Where have you to been living your whole lives? Were Team Rocket of course!" the woman snapped, pointing to the insignia on her cardigan. Hayden raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think I've ever heard of them. Are they some sort of fancy dress charity?" Hayden could immediately tell he'd done something wrong. The woman snarled and her face twisted with anger, while Alex grabbed a Pokeball off his belt and growled. The two looked very angry now. Jean shot Hayden a glare. If they were acting like this over a simple question... Something didn't seem right about them.

"They might be full of spirit, but it seems Zack forgot to mention that these two brats are also indignant and rude!" the woman hissed, pulling a Pokeball off a thick necklace that had been buried under her clothes.

"Were not brats!" Jean cried as Hayden called "Your the rude ones" angrily.

"We don't even know who this Zack person isORwhy your here!" Jean snapped. She didn't like these two. First they show up in ridiculous outfits, talk about someone they don't know and then get angry very easily. A sudden smug smirk crossed the woman's face.

"So... Zack didn't get himself discovered. Maybe he's not as blundering as that towering Ursaring of his." She tapped her chin with a finger while she spoke, tilting her head to the side curiously. Alex raised an eyebrow and snorted. "I highly doubt that he managed to go completely unseen".

"An Ursaring?... Hayden! We saw an Ursarang back at that clearing, and a man in the trees recalled it" Jean said to Hayden, remembering the incident all too well.

"I told you" Alex muttered. The woman rolled her eyes.

"Oh please Alex, you just can't accept Zack's a Team Rocket Admin, and your not" Alex turned to face the woman angrily, but she coughed deliberately and motioned towards Hayden and Jean. "Zack happened to be on the lookout for new trainers, and obviously accidentally stumbled on you two. He said your Pokémon were worth stealing, and we were the closest grunts in the area. We would have been here sooner... but we had technical difficulties with the Helicopter" she sighed.

_Steal our Pokémon? I knew there was something up with these Team Rocket folk!_ Hayden though, frowning as it dawned on him what the two adults planned on doing. A look of defiance crossed Jean's face as she realised as well. "Forget it, freaks, your not touching our Pokémon" she yelled.

The woman's eye visibly twitched at Jean's remark, and they were reduced to slits. "If you insult me... one more time, you _brat _I'll not only steal your Pokémon, but leave you in a blubbering mess!" she hissed. Alex side glanced at his partner. "Elise, calm down. We have work to do". Elise took a deep breath and regained herself, a slightly chilling smile spreading across her pretty face.

"It usually comes down to this, battling for your Pokémon. If you wish to be defeated, so be it." Alex said with a shrug. "Mankey, let's go" he called, throwing his Pokeball into the air. Elise mirrored his action. "Poliwhirl, time to fight". The Pokeballs split open and the white light shaped into two round figures.

Hayden whipped out his Pokedex, and pointed it at the Pokémon in front of Alex. It had a round torso, covered in messy tan fur with angry looking eyes and a pig snout. Its arms ended in boxing little paws and its legs were the same dark shade. Its thin tail began thrashing dangerously.  


_**Mankey,**_

_**When Mankey starts shaking and its nasal breathing turns rough, it's a sure sign that it is becoming angry. However, because it goes into a towering rage almost instantly, it is impossible for anyone to flee its wrath. If one becomes enraged, the whole colony rampages for no reason.**_

Meanwhile, Jean already had her Pokedex pointing at the round blue Pokémon Elise had released. It had two small eyes on top of its round body, and its underbelly was a black swirl that looked like it was moving a little. Its hands were covered in small white gloves.

_**Poliwhirl,**_

_**The surface of Poliwhirl's body is always wet and slick with an oily fluid. Because of this greasy covering, it can easily slip and slide out of the clutches of any enemy in battle. The swirl on its belly subtly undulates. Staring at it may gradually cause drowsiness.**_

"Finished yet?" Elise barked, tapping her foot with a raised eyebrow. Hayden didn't respond but nodded to Volt, who had been standing by his side the whole time. He leaped forwards to face the Poliwhirl. Jean tossed her own Pokeball into the air. "Ash, were up". Mankey began to beat its chest as Ash appeared to face him.

"They look relatively weak at the moment... but Magby and Elekid are worth it I suppose" Elise shrugged. "Poliwhirl, Water Gun". "Mankey, charge and use Fury Swipes on that Magby".

Mankey bounded forwards, screeching and beating its chest. Once it had closed the distance with surprising speed, it barred its claws and began to swipe at Ash, leaving scratch marks. Meanwhile, Poliwhirl had released a blast of water at Volt from its strange mouth/belly. Hayden called for Volt to raise its arm quickly, the water pushed him back a little, but the attack didn't seem to be doing much. "Now, Thundershock into that stream of water" he smirked. When Elise had first released the water Pokémon he had formed that little technique in his mind straight away.

With the water still spraying on his body, Volt released a large shock of electricity that coursed through the stream, surging through Poliwhirl. It cried in pain and immediately stopped the attack, shaking it off, but looking slightly annoyed. "So, your a smart brat?... Poliwhirl, close the distance, and use Bubble".

"Use Ember to get it off" Jean quickly called to Ash, who was still under the Fury Swipes onslaught. _That Mankey is strong... I need to be careful about its close range attacks_. Ash managed to spew a large fireball straight in Mankey's face. It fell backwards; Ash took the opportunity to move back a little. A second later, Mankey was back on its feet, and looking severely enraged. "Use Scratch, Mankey" Alex commanded.

"Jump out of the way and fire off Ember again" As Mankey dove to scratch at Ash with its claws, Ash jumped to the left and released a small storm of fireballs. They struck Mankey's side, and it let out a cry of pain and anger. It dived again, missing Ash by inches, and once again Ash released more fireballs. Mankey was looking very angry by now. _Hmm... the more it misses the angrier it seems to _

_get. And the angrier it gets, the more it misses, a vicious circle I guess. I should be okay if Ash sticks with long range attacks... I guess_. Jean though.

"Now, Poliwhirl, use Double Slap" Elise commanded. Poliwhirl ceased its Bubble Attack that had been pretty much useless, and as it approached Volt, began to strike out with its gloved hands. The blows struck Volt's body hard. "Charge forwards with Quick Attack" Volt managed to focus enough to burst forwards into Poliwhirl in a blur of white, knocking it to the floor and halting its attack. Volt skidded to a halt and turned to face its opponent. Elise let out a snarl and opened her mouth to call a command, but Hayden was quicker.

"Thundershock it while its down" Volt lowered its head as another bolt of yellow electricity struck Poliwhirl as it was getting back up. It scrunched its eyes up and let out cried of pain as the attack hit it. Finally it rolled to the left, leaving the attack hitting the grass. "Two can play the smart game, brat. Poliwhirl, Hypnosis!" Hayden's eyes suddenly widened as she called the attack.

Suddenly the swirl on Poliwhirl's stomach began to twist and turn, and glow a light purple. Volt couldn't help but stare, and a few seconds later, his eyelids drooped and he collapsed to his bottom fast asleep. Hayden let out a strangled gasp. Elise glanced over at him with a smug smile. "Now Poliwhirl, Double Slap it into submission!" she growled. Poliwhirl complied and began to ruthlessly slap the sleeping form of Volt. Hayden winced.

_With Volt asleep I can't do anything!. I don't have any Awakens either... I knew they're was something I forgot at the Pokémon Store. I'm just going to have to hope that Volt can hold out until he wakes up..._ Hayden considered. "Excellent Poliwhirl, now, Body Slam." As Poliwhirl readied himself to jump up, it was shoved harshly sideways by Mankey who had been trying to land a hit on Ash. Poliwhirl shoved it off and began to shout in Pokémon talk, raising its fist.

"Watch where that filthy monkey is going Alex!" Elise shouted. Alex frowned angrily and opened his mouth to retort, but Jean called out a command.

"Ash, while those Pokémon are together use Smog" Ash took a deep breath, and then thrust its head forward as a thick black/purple cloud bellowed forwards. It enveloped the squabbling Poliwhirl and Mankey, but looked slightly different. Not only were poisonous fumes enveloping them, but an even thicker black cloud that took longer to disperse. "A Smokescreen too?. Well done Ash" Jean told her Pokémon, who smiled proudly.

"Oh just be quiet Alex!" Elise hissed. Alex's jaw dropped, he was taking the blame even though Elise had started the argument. "Poliwhirl, finish that Elekid off with a Body Slam" Poliwhirl blinked several times and look slightly disorientated as it approached Volt who still sat asleep. It tensed its legs and leaped into the air, throwing its weight down. Its attack missed, only scathing Volt's shoulder, even though Volt hadn't moved. "Poliwhirl, what are you doing!" Elise shrieked.

"Smokescreen lowers a Pokémon's accuracy a little" Jean told her.

"Mankey, use Low Kick" Mankey leaped forwards, and swooped low, striking Ash's balance from underneath him. As he collided with the floor Mankey struck out with its foot, sending Ash sprawling. He slowly rose back up. "Strike again" Alex commanded. Mankey gathered it footing and launched itself at Ash.

"Ash, Smokescreen around yourself" Ash nodded and puffed out his chest as thick black smoke billowed around him, which Mankey dived into. Both Pokémon were shielded from view. _Ash should be able to strike a few finishing blows now_. "Ash, spin around and use Ember" Jean called into the smoke. There was motion in the smoke, and then a shriek of pain obviously from Mankey. The fireballs punctured the smoke and it dispersed quickly, revealing a fainted Mankey.,

"What! Mankey, get up!" Alex cried, eyes bulging. Mankey was unconscious, and after several attempts of verbally forcing his fainted Pokémon to rise, Alex accepted it was useless. He raised his Pokeball looking worried, and pressed the middle button. The red light absorbed Mankey back into the sphere. Elise glanced over at Alex and her fists immediately curled.

"You stupid, wool-headed idiot!" she shouted. "You let your Pokémon get beat!. Why did I EVER get teamed with you!" she shrieked. Alex didn't reply but simply glared at her. "Your finally awake Volt!" Hayden cried, quickly drawing Elise's attention. Volt yawned and stretched his arms before turning to face Poliwhirl.

A confident grin was painted across Hayden's face now, and a spark of excitement was alive in his blue eyes. "Alright Volt, lets finish these annoying jokes off with a full power Thunderbolt" Elise let out a wail as Poliwhirl was struck by a large thunder bolt. It fell to the floor, smoking slightly. She quickly recalled her Pokémon and reached for the other Pokeball on her belt. "You really don't want us to beat your other Pokémon do you?" Hayden asked with a well deserved sneer. Her hand hesitated.

"Don't bother trying to get all bad ass with me brat, your talking to the master. As much of a cliché it is, next time will be different. I assure you" she put a cold emphasis on the last three words. With that, her and Alex gave the two one last cold look before turning on they're heels and running back the way they came. "Volt after the-" Jean shook her head.

"Theres no point Hayden. They didn't get our Pokémon and it doesn't look like they'll be trying again for a while." Hayden decided this was right and nodded in agreement before sitting down. Jean rolled her eyes. "What happened to be being determined in catching a new Pokémon then?" she said with a sigh.

Hayden didn't reply for a while but stared at the ground. He let out his own sigh, his shoulders sagging. "I've got no chance at the first gym Jean." Jean frowned. "I don't understand"

"Callum said the first gym uses Rock Pokémon. Volt is an Electric type, and he's got no moves that'll cause any damage. I need a new Pokémon that'll be able to do something! I'm going to loose!" Hayden said dejectedly. Jean crossed her arms and glanced at Volt, who shrugged.

"And I thought you were the one that planned ahead" she said acidly. Hayden looked up at her tone and frowned confused. "Your actually going to let something small like a type advantage get to you?. Even I know that a battle isn't outweighed by type advantages, there are techniques and ways you can get around things like that. Instead of looking for a new Pokémon, you and Volt should be training even harder" Hayden considered it for a few seconds before sighing. "I 'spose" Volt frowned, and laid a hand on his trainer's arm. Hayden looked up just in time to see the sparks dancing between his prong ears.

"OWWWWWWWWWWW" Hayden shouted as the electricity surged through his body. Volt finally removed his hand and joined in Jean's laughter. Hayden jumped up and glared down at Volt, who was rolling around in hoots of laughter. His blond hair was on end, making him look even more ridiculous. "Well, if you hadn't have been so ridiculous, Volt wouldn't have had to shock you" Jean giggled and Volt nodded in agreement. He simply sniffed and turned away from his Pokémon and friend.

Jean rolled her eyes and turned towards the way they'd come. "Are you two going to start training or what?. The sooner you hurry up, the sooner we can get to Hailen. I want a proper meal" Hayden stayed looking away for a few more seconds before finally giving up on his attempted defiance. "Time to start." As if on cue, a familiar pink Pokémon appeared from the bushes, sniffing the ground in search of food. Hayden smirked.

"Let's go!". The Pokémon's loud ears twitched at the sound of Hayden's voice, and it looked up at its opponent. Eager to fight, the Nidoran began to kick the ground behind it before charging forwards. Volt grinned confidently as the Nidoran leaped into the air, channelling its small mass towards him. Volt tensed his legs a little, and then jumped up to meet Nidoran, swinging its left leg up. Nidoran was thrown backwards and rolled in the grass coming to a halt with a thud.

"Hmmm... that was Low Kick huh... Well done Volt, now we got this one wrapped. Thundershock" Hayden told Volt. As the Nidoran stood up weakly, Volt tensed its body and released a thick thunderbolt which bounced towards the Pokémon before shocking it. Once the attack stopped Nidoran looked in pretty bad shape.

It threw back its head and let out a cry, its eyes flickering orange again. It certainly was the same Pokémon they had battled earlier; it was using the same technique. Then, it bounded forwards and spun on the spot, striking Volt twice with its legs causing him to stumble back a little. "Quick, grab its foot and toss it" As the Nidoran landed facing away from Volt, Volt quickly recovered from the Double Kick and grabbed its leg. Nidoran let out a yelp of surprise as Volt grunted and threw it behind it. Nidoran collided with the ground hard.

"Alright, now's the time to catch it" Hayden cheered happily as he unclipped a spare Pokeball from his belt and threw it at Nidoran, who was slowly gaining its footing. The Pokeball opened on contact and a red light covered the form of Nidoran completely, withdrawing it into the sphere. It began to shake as the Nidoran tried to break free, but finally locked shut. Volt let out a cheer and punched the air, sparks fizzing from his ears, happy on helping Hayden catch his first Pokémon. Hayden beamed as he bent down to pick up the Pokeball, clipping it to his belt. "The first of many to come!"


	5. Chapter 5: Arrival In Hailen Town

I haven't received any reviews on chapter 4, which saddened me a little. I think thats why it took me longer to write this, with lack of support, it doesn't seem the same. Anyways, theres a lot of new things and characters introduced in this chapter, and I can assure you that Chapter 6 will contain Hayden's first gym battle which I'm very excited about writing. Hope you enjoy it

**Arrival in Hailen Town.**

The mid afternoon sun relentlessly beat down upon Hayden and Jean as they began to near the top of the hill. The path was littered with rocks and dust, doing nothing to help the sweltering heat. Hayden removed his hat and snapped the sweat off, sighing. "I had no idea it was gonna' be so hot today. As soon as we get to the Pokémon Centre, I'm diving in the freezer."

Jean pushed back some stray red wavy bangs from her face and flapped the collar of her summer dress. "I might have to join you, but only after we've healed up our Pokémon" she replied, almost stumbling on another rock. Rubbing her toes with a frown, she began to mutter darkly. Despite the heat, a small grin spread across Hayden's face as he watched her out of the corner of his eye.

A little bit more walking and the two finally topped the peak of the hill, which had a pleasant dip leading into Hailen Town. It was fairly small considering it had a gym, and in the middle of a valley, bordered by hills and a large mountain facing them. All around the edges of the town various steel structures were erected, the oil mines of Hailen's Hill's, if Hayden remembered from what his father had told him. There were three visible buildings that caught his eye. The red roofed Pokémon Centre was thankfully just inside the town, large compared to the rest of the buildings. A small, square block of stone sat surrounded by smaller rock walls. It had a few windows and rough wooden doors and a few fissures followed the ground and rose up with the walls. It looked as if it had grown out the ground itself and been filed down. The tell tale sign of a gym was sprawled on the right side of the door, a large red G painted within a Pokeball. That caused a little tinge of excitement in Hayden's stomach. But it did look startlingly small to be a gym.

The final, largest structure was sat right in the middle of the town. It appeared to be some sort of construction site, a nearly finished bowl shaped building. From atop the hill Hayden could spot plenty of men in hardhats and a few Pokémon working on it. "Wonder what that is..." Jean said staring at it intently. Hayden shrugged and fanned himself again with his hands. "I'm sure we'll find out soon; let's just get to the Pokémon Centre." Jean nodded in agreement.

They made their way down the hill, with a little more moaning by Jean who seemed to have a tendency of falling over the rocks. Once they reached the bottom and brushed off, they entered the Pokémon Centre, grateful for the cool air that blasted through the Lobby. A few other trainers sat around, fanning themselves or grooming there Pokémon or talking. Nurse Joy was stood, as normal, behind the desk, although today her hair was pulled back in a bun due to the heat. She was cheery none the less and placed there Pokeballs in a tray to be healed. Jean returned to the seats they were at with two large drinks packed with ice. The two drank gratefully, not speaking for a while.

"I think I might go have a few battles with those other there. I want to have a good chance with this gym battle" Hayden said, nodding to two younger trainers by the door. Jean drained the last of her drink and smacked her lips.

"But I thought you were concerned about the types?" She asked. Hayden smirked and tapped his nose. "Let's just say I've got a few tricks up my sleeve" Jean rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you're going to battle, I'm going to have a long needed shower and wash my clothes. I'm going to need to phone my parents as well" Hayden nodded. "I guess Mum's worried by now." Nurse Joy then called from the desk to collect they're healed Pokémon. They returned there Pokeballs to their belt and pocket and picked up the receivers, each dialling their respective numbers.

Soon enough, both screens lit up with Hayden's mother, and Jean's mum and dad. Jean began to preen about catching Jade, and explaining the fiasco with Team Rocket. Hayden's mother began to screech down the phone at him, saying she wanted him to return home at once. Hayden began to shout back until the whole Pokémon Centre was staring, Jean was even wide eyed. "NO MUM, TEAM ROCKET HAVEN'T BEEN MAKING ME WET THE BED!" he roared as she cried down the receiver. It took a second for him to realise had shouted it, and his cheeks erupted into red. He gave a quick goodbye to his mum and hung up on her while she was still talking. He didn't turn around for a few moments, mainly because Jean was roaring with laughter and also because he could still feel his face burning red hot.

After Jean had finally stopped giggling, he quickly stepped into the hallway with her to dump his bag off in his room. He didn't mention the phone call, and neither did she. After a few moments of silence she coughed. "I heard Samantha's in Hailen Town!" she chirped cheerily. "Hopefully we'll meet her somewhere... it's been months since I've seen her, and I want her opinion on Ash and Jade"

"It would be nice to see her again. Well, I'm gonna' go put in some last minute practice before the gym battle. If you're going to come and watch, meet me out the front in half an hour okay?" Jean nodded and ducked into her room.

Upon re entering the lobby, Hayden found that the people who were present while he was on the phone were giving him mocking looks from the corners of their eyes. He frowned and tried not to turn red, puffing out his chest as he made his way to them. "I... I was wondering whether any of you would like a Pokémon Battle?" he asked with forced politeness as they openly laughed at him. The brown haired one considered it for a moment before nodding eagerly. Nurse Joy caught sight of them, and directed them out of a side door to the Centre's gardens where a lot of practice battles or training were held.

Once they had taken up their positions, Hayden faced the young boy. "I'm surprised you're not wetting the bed" he snickered, pulling loose a Pokeball and throwing it. A small brown bird fluttered its wings as it soared to hover in front of its trainer. Hayden recognised it as a Pidgey; he had seen and fought plenty of them in Redville woods. Gritting his teeth, he tossed his own Pokeball out. "Let's go, Crane" His newly nicknamed Nidoran, Crane, appeared on the field snarling at its opponent.

-

Jean let out a happy sigh as she stepped into her room, wrapped in a towel, her red wavy locks stuck to her back. It was a relief to be free from all the dirt and sweat, Hailen Town was always dusty because of the wind circulating in the valley it rested in. Ash and Jade were sat on Jean's bed, happily munching on some Pokémon treats. She began to towel dry her hair roughly, and then changed into a white strappy top with a light blue skirt and sandals, returning her dress and belt to her bag. "Ash... what is with you and doorknobs?" she sighed as Ash spat a small fireball at the doorknob. He then proceeded to try and jump up to head butt it. Jean bent down and wagged a finger in his face. "You have to stop, or else we'll be paying for damages and-." A sudden flow of bubbles burst into the side of Jean's head. She let out a gasp as she fell into the door and bumped her head. As expected, once she had sat up straight, she saw Jade rolling around her bed in fits of laughter. Ash hid a snicker behind a small hand.

"Come on... we have to go and meet Hayden now..." Jean sighed with a shake of her head. _What am I going to do?_

-

Hayden smirked. "Well done Crane, return." He clipped Crane's Pokeball back to his belt and faced the young boy who was carrying his fainted Pidgey in his arms. All through the battle the boy had taunted him about his outburst, but instead of replying, Hayden had focused on the battle. It had ended in a swift defeat. "You got lucky, yellow pants." He said simply before stalking off with his friend. Hayden simply laughed and entered the Pokémon Centre through the side door, spotting Jean who was talking to Nurse Joy. As he approached he began to make out what they were saying.

"Oh, so you noticed the poster to? Your the third trainer today" the pink haired nurse said with a smile. "The tournaments open to anyone, so your free to sign up. You just need to fill in a form and show me your Pokedex, and I'll give you your necessary information"

"A tournament?" Hayden interrupted. Jean looked up and nodded, motioning to a large poster on the notice board. "I saw it while waiting for you, I think it looks like good practice. I think we should enter!" she said excitedly. "I didn't realise Hailen Town held tournaments..." he murmured.

"They usually don't, but the new stadium complex has been in development for over a year now, and will be ready by Friday. The Hailen Town Community Body are throwing a tournament in commemoration for its opening, and are inviting trainers to apply. As Jean said, I'm sure it'll be good practice" Nurse Joy explained. "I still think it's a little strange for such a small town like Hailen to have a stadium, but apparently it's going to be used for all sorts of things".

Hayden made his way over to the poster, where a picture of the complex he had seen on arrival was splashed across it along with some writing. He leaned closer to read it.

_Calling all trainers!  
The long awaited opening of Hailen Town's very own Hailen Stadium is looming closer, and then HTCB are planning to open its doors with a bang!. We want you, new and experienced trainers, to come and join in the tournament for some heated battling. You'll be competing for a Technical Machine of your choice from a selection provided by the Pokémon Store Company, and boy, your going to want to fight hard for these. Please ask your local Nurse Joy for more information. We hope to see you!_

"Technical Machines?... aren't those the special disks that teach a Pokémon a move it wouldn't normally know? They're supposed to be expensive to..." He returned to the desk. "I'm up for it. Could we have the forms please Nurse Joy?" She handed them two long forms and some pens and turned to a Chansey who had been waiting for her.

"These forms are so long, might as well get started" Jean said, taking a seat with Hayden. The form contained a lot of questions on they're current Pokémon, how old they were, why they wanted to participate and things like that. Finally, twenty minutes later, they returned they're forms and gave their Pokedexes in. Nurse Joy slotted them into the desk's computer, hit a few buttons and gave them back; informing them they were now registered to enter the tournament. They were to report to the competitor's lounge at 9:30 AM on Friday morning.

"Its almost dinner time already? Maybe I shouldn't have practiced so much..." Hayden mumbled, glancing at his watch as him and Jean rounded the corner. Hailen Town was quiet compared to Redville City, but the dust never seemed to lie flat. "Dinner time? I think I remember Samantha telling me that the first few gyms closed early." Jean said, tapping her chin in thought. Hayden stopped suddenly and wailed. "QUICK!" he yelped before bolting down the street. Jean ran after him, her hair flailing behind her.

Hayden screeched around another corner, arms waving wildly as he tried to prevent himself from falling flat on his face. A few passer bys gave him strange looks as he bounded down the street, looking this way and that, and one even shouted at him to slow down. _Ah man! I need to get to the gym quickly, I've waited almost a week for this, I'm not waiting any longer! It would help if I knew where the gym was..._

When he was standing atop the hill, he remembered it being to the left side of the town, near the entrance to the mountain passage that led out of Hailen. Quickly glancing up at the sky as he dodged a lamppost, he spotted the mountain top. With an extra burst of speed he zoomed up the road, with Jean trailing him. She sighed in frustration, wiping dust from her face, pounding down the street. "Hayden.. Wait up!" she called out. "I need to find the-." He let out a heavy grunt as he collided painfully with someone who he hadn't seen as he shouted over his shoulder.

With a grumble, Hayden stood back up, rubbing his head where he had bashed it. The other person stood back up to, looking rather annoyed. The girl looked about the same age as Hayden, and had vibrant blue hair tied elegantly up in a braid that cascaded down her back. She had matching blue eyes, which were alive with malice and wore an aquamarine jacket that stopped at her midriff, and a white tank top, with a pair of aquamarine running shorts. At exactly the same time, both Hayden and the girl spoke "Not you!"

Jean scratched her head, as she recognised the girl. Cerulean! What are you doing here?" Jean asked surprised. Cerulean Weslen had also grown up in Strane Town, but being the daughter of the richest man in town had caused her head to inflate a lot, and thus Hayden and Jean hadn't had much contact with her. And any contact there had been, it had been sour to say the least. Jean had simply shrugged off the arguments, but Cerulean and Hayden had become determined to hate each other. Rivals of a sort.

"Still as clumsy as ever I see" Cerulean said with narrowed eyes. Hayden sniffed, trying to flatten his blond hair. "Still as blind as ever, you should have seen me" Cerulean's jaw dropped at the remark, and she flung her braid over her shoulder.

"On the contrary Jean, What are _you _two doing here? Surely you couldn't have actually been allowed to leave Strane?" Cerulean asked with a smirk. She had been allowed to leave months before Hayden and Jean, and had never failed to let it die. Jean glared flatly at her, rearranging her backpack. "Come on Hayden, let's go" she said coldly, placing an hand on his arm.

"I'm surprised you managed to get this far, I'd have thought Redville would have been your limit" Cerulean said with a hearty laugh. Hayden shrugged Jean's hand off and took a step forwards.

"I'm more surprised to see _you _here Cerulean. You should at least be in Orroro by now; you had a big head start on us. Maybe you're not cut out to travel" he replied fatly. Her nostrils flared as she took a deep breath.

"For your information, I'm still here because I've been visiting Daddy while he's here on work. And of course, earning my first badge" she shot back, taking out a small blue case from her pocket with an elaborate C worked on the front. She flipped it open to flash a small badge at Hayden. He felt his jaw drop.

"Wait... you mean you haven't actually received the Hailen Town badge yet?" Cerulean said, her voice beginning to crack with laughter as she realised. She threw back her head and let out another loud laugh as Hayden's face flashed red.

"Your daddy probably bribed the gym leader to give it to you, like he does with everything you get" Jean retorted. Cerulean quickly stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow. "Oh be quiet, don't get jealous"

Hayden couldn't stand her smug smile or cackling laughter any longer, and grabbed a Pokeball from his belt. "Enough chit-chat let's just battle, then we'll see whose such a bad trainer" anger pumped through Hayden. For a second he actually thought Cerulean was going to accept his challenge, her hand twitched towards a Pokeball on her necklace, but then it faltered. She smiled even more smugly and a hint of malice shined from her cerulean blue eyes.

"I don't waste my time on amateurs, come find me when you've actually earned a badge, then maybe. Until then, keep eating my dust. Losers" she laughed once more before pushing past them, her nose in the air. Hayden returned the Pokeball to his belt with a heavy breath.

"Don't let her get to you. I doubt she even had to fight the gym leader to get that badge" Jean said coldly staring after the girl. Hayden didn't reply for a second, but took a few calming breaths. "If theres anyone that can push my buttons, it's her" he muttered, shaking his head. He looked up, brushing blond hair from his face as he looked around.

"And now I don't even know where we are." He glanced down at his watch and saw to his dismay it was almost six o clock. The gym was most probably closed now and he didn't know which way the Pokémon Centre was. Jean looked around, frowning. "This means I have to wait another whole day 

just to challenge the gym leader. I'm getting up as early as possible tomorrow." Hayden said with a defeated sigh.

"We'll have to ask our way back to the Pokémon Centre I guess" Jean muttered, yanking on Hayden's sleeve to signal him to follow. The two began to walk back down the street, looking around for someone to ask. Most people were eating or something or another by now though, and the streets were pretty much deserted. Finally, they saw a tall, slim figure with its back to them, with shocking red hair in two short pig tails poking out from under a red and green hat. They approached the figure and Jean let out a loud cough and a sweet little "Excuse me"

Hayden and Jean let out a gasp as the figure turned around. The woman standing in front of them was a spitting image of Jean with shorter hair and a much more tomboyish appearance. Samantha smiled warmly as she realised who it was, readjusting her hat. She had a long sleeved blue top, with a small jacket similar to Cerulean's over it. A pair of baggy jeans and dirty trainers were also what she wore. Her green eyes were only a shade darker than Jean's. Samantha pulled her sister into a rough one armed hug with a laugh.

"Mum said you were in Hailen" Jean said straightening her hair which Samantha had insisted on ruffling. "Yep, mum told me you'd set off a week ago, I didn't think to see you here though. Hey Hayden" Samantha replied, ruffling Hayden's own blond hair. He laughed and attempted to flatten it.

"What're you doing all the way back here?" Jean asked. Samantha smiled and tapped her nose with a wink.

"That, I'm afraid sis, is official business of the Pokémon League." Jean gasped, and her eyes widened. "Pokémon League? But, since when were you working for them?" Samantha laughed as she replied. "Like I said, official stuff. How comes you guys aren't getting dinner at the Pokémon Centre? Or have you already eaten?"

Hayden and Jean exchanged embarrassed looks. "Well... I sort of got us lost as we were looking for the gym, and then we had a run in with an old friend, you could call her I suppose, and we were going to ask you the way back" Hayden replied, rubbing the back of his neck with a stupid laugh. A slight smile crossed Samantha's face and she rolled her eyes, a lot like Jean had a liking to do.

"Eager to get a badge huh? Well, I was just looking for some good place to eat out. How about I treat you two to dinner, and then I'll walk you back to the Pokémon Centre? Its been to long since I've spoken to my own sister properly, and I'd like to hear about your Pokémon so far" Samantha suggested with a smile. Jean nodded vigorously

"That'd be great, what do you say Hayden" Hayden nodded to. "Sounds good to me!".

The three eventually found a nice little pizzeria a few streets away which had a comfy feel, they were placed near a window as the sun set, and soon enough were talking away about how Hayden and Jean had found travelling so far. Soon Jean was explaining about the run in with Alex and Elise. Samantha suddenly leaned forward.

"Team Rocket grunts?" Jean nodded, looking slightly surprised that Samantha recognised them. "I've had a run in with them before, and plenty of other Team Rocket members. They're a nasty bunch, no one really understands why they started stealing Pokémon, but they're never really caught. They're all a complete mystery basically, but they are certainly dangerous. You two have to be careful" she sounded deadly serious and her hand was shaking slightly.

"We can handle them if we fight together, right Jean?. Were a pretty strong team fighting together" Hayden said with a cheery smile as the pizzas they ordered were served. Jean didn't touch her pizza at first but frowned into space.

"Obviously not, since we lost to Callum" she said quietly. Hayden glanced at her with a shake of his head. Samantha raised an eyebrow. "Callum?..." Jean sniffed and stared out of the window. Hayden looked sideways at Jean before answering Samantha's question.

"I guess Callum is sort of like Jean's rival for contests. He saved Ash when he was in his egg and they got off to a rough start, but once she apologised he was fine. We had a double match with him, and he beat us with his Spheal and Baltoy. Jean appears to take it personally" Jean choked on a bit of pizza as Hayden spoke, and after finally dislodging it from her throat she glared at him. He simply shrugged and returned to his pizza.

"Theres nothing to be ashamed of sis, I've lost plenty of times, sometimes multiple times to the same person. Rivalry does more good than anything else." Jean looked up at her sister, slightly confused. "Think about it. If your always pushing yourself to beat someone because you really want to, it means you'll always be at your best. Only if you try your best can you be sure you have a chance to win" her sister replied sagely. Thinking over it, it did make sense, at least thats what Jean thought.

The three carried on talking and eating the rather expensive pizza. Once the finished Samantha ordered for the bill and paid it, the price made Hayden and Jean's jaws drop and they even offered to help towards it. Samantha waved it off though and insisted she wasn't going to accept anything. Hayden guessed that she had earned a lot of money through battling so much. It was then, as they made there way back to the Pokémon Centre, that a idea washed over Hayden. He eyed Samantha out of the corner of his eye.

"Samantha..." he said slowly. Jean looked over at him and immediately guesses his idea. She simply chuckled and shook her head in mild disbelief. Samantha, who had been observing Jean's Pokedex, looked up. "Well... since its my gym match tomorrow.. I was wondering whether you could... have a practice battle with me?" he spoke slowly and bit his lip, bracing himself for raucous laughter from Samantha. However, the spunky trainer smiled even more warmly.

"I'd love to!. It'd be good to see how you and your Pokémon are coming along, and a bit of a practice for some of my newest caught Pokémon." She replied, clenching her fist excitedly. Jean let her jaw drop.

"You can't actually be serious Samantha? I mean, no offense Hayden, but you won't stand a chance... well you won't!" she added defiantly as Hayden glared at her. "Samantha's already got all her gym badges, you've got none, its not going to be much comparison!... Oh whatever then, but 

don't cry to me when you lose" Jean said with a sigh as she realised that Samantha was feeling exactly the same as Hayden.

"Okay, I think it would be a good idea to use the Pokémon Centre gardens since were not far. Causing havoc with a Pokémon battle in the middle of the street wouldn't go down well with anyone..." Samantha chuckled, and the three made the final turn to face the red roofed building. They quickly entered the large gardens via a side gate and separated themselves a little. Hayden buzzed with excitement as he pulled his first Pokeball off his belt.

"As much as I don't like to admit it Hayden, this match isn't exactly fair. So, how about you use all your Pokémon against one of mine? If you manage to beat it, you win" Samantha suggested, fishing a blue Pokeball from her belt which had two red stripes on the top half. Hayden glanced at Jean who nodded, with her arms crossed rather annoyingly. She thought the whole battle was a waste of time.

"Fine, thats the way it'll be. I choose you, Volt" he called out to Samantha, pressing the middle button to enlarge his Pokeball, and then again so it split open in his palm and the white light spilled out and formed into Volt. He quickly swung his arms round like a windmill to ignite a few crackles of electricity from between his prong like ears. He liked to show off a lot, reflected by his proud smile.

"An Elekid? Hmm, by the colour of its sparks it looks pretty strong" Samantha considered, tapping her chin. With a smile, she tossed the Great Ball into the air. "Lets go, Sabeleye!" A relatively short purple coloured Pokémon materialised. It had striking eyes that resembled gems, which glistened with the slow rising moon. It stood on two legs, and its long arms ended in claws.

_**Sabeleye, the darkness Pokémon.**_

_**Sabeleye lead quiet lives deep inside caverns. They are feared, however, because these Pokémon are thought to steal the spirits of people when their eyes burn with a sinister glow in the darkness.**_

Jean quickly returned her Pokedex to her pocket with a slight twinge. _That Pokémon looks scary! Ugh, how could Samantha have caught it? But I suppose looks aren't everything..._

"You can take the first turn, Hayden" Samantha said politely. Sabeleye lowered itself to all fours and looked eager to battle.

"Okay Volt, lets start off with a Thunderbolt" Volt nodded, taking a bounding step and whirling his arms faster than ever. As he landed, a bolt of electricity burst from his body and leaped forwards, striking Sabeleye head on. The ghost Pokémon barely seemed to flinch however.

"I won't be going easy on you Hayden. Okay Sabeleye, we'll start soft with a Fury Swipes" Samantha ordered. Sabeleye kicked off from his position quickly, brandishing its claws as it neared Volt.

"Go to meet it with a Quick Attack Volt" With a burst of speed, Volt dashed forwards as a white blur, and the two Pokémon collided with a crash. Volt was sent reeling, while Sabeleye managed to flip backwards in the air and land on its nimble feet.

"Night Shade!" Samantha quickly called. Sabeleye's strange gem eyes began to glow eerily, a swirling black and purple aura swimming around it. Suddenly, as Volt jumped to his feet, the same aura 

surrounded him and he cried in pain, clutching at his head. As quickly as it had started, the attack was over, but Volt was looking nearly finished.

_Hmm... Sabeleye is Samantha's weakest Pokémon, but its still ridiculously strong. But, this is good training.. I hope. _"Volt, lets give it one last Thunderbolt, with all you've got" Wincing, Volt began to spin his arms until they were blurs, and suddenly stopped. Then, with an almighty "ELEKIIIIID" he let loose a large Thunderbolt attack, which bounced across the grass, leaving scorch marks.

"Charge forward to meet it Sabeleye, and prepare for a Faint Attack" Sabeleye bounded forwards on its small feet once again, and this time actually let out a cry of pain as the electricity surged through its body. Once the attack had finished, he leaped up into the air, and temporarily faded from existence. Jean let out a little gasp as he reappeared right in front of an exhausted looking Volt, and then passed straight through the electric Pokémon. Volt collapsed to the grass with a moan.

"Damn.. you tried your best Volt" Hayden muttered, as the red beam enveloped his Pokémon and he switched Volt's Pokeball with the other one on his belt which contained a Pokémon. "Your up, Crane" Crane appeared with a tiny roar.

"A Nidoran... they have some powerful evolutions, I'd like to see how you utilise them" Samantha observed, glancing over at Crane. "Okay Sabeleye, Night Shade" Once again, a strange swirling aura enveloped Sabeleye and its eyes began to shine as it prepared for its attack.

"Crane, cancel it out with Leer" Hayden exclaimed quickly. Crane's eyes flashed a deep red, and to Sabeleye at least, seemed to grow larger. Its Night Shade attack faltered as it lost concentration from being intimidated. "Smart move Hayden. Okay Sabeleye, one Focus Punch should do it"

_No doubt, Focus Punch will be one of Sabeleye's strongest moves. I wonder how Hayden will deal with that..._ Jean wondered as Sabeleye's right fist began to glow a deep orange. The ghost Pokémon charged forwards, all the while, the glow growing deeper.

"Try and use Double Kick to propel yourself into Sabeleye, quickly Crane" Crane grunted to show he understood, and leaned forwards on his front paws. Then, with another grunt, he kicked his larger hind legs into the grass with two large thuds and he pushed forwards in one motion, sending him crashing into Sabeleye. Before Sabeleye could strike, it lost focus, and the glowing stopped immediately.

Samantha gritted her teeth. "Cancelling out my attacks isn't going to win you this match Hayden. Sabeleye, Focus Punch again" Sabeleye launched itself up into the air, its fist glowing once again, and before Hayden could issue a command, it landed and spun on the spot, swinging its fist into Crane's side.

Crane was flung backwards, finally skidding to a halt several feet behind Hayden. Not surprisingly, he didn't rise. Realising Hayden didn't have anymore Pokémon left, Samantha congratulated Sabeleye with a pat on the head and recalled it, making her way over to Hayden with Jean. Hayden withdrew Crane back to his Pokeball and returned it to his belt. "I hope that was some good practice Hayden. I think you certainly have the right strategies to get far, you utilise your team's moves well" Samantha commented, extending her hand to shake. He nodded and shook it back.

Much to Jean's surprise, he didn't seem to take the loss bad at all. If anything, it seemed to spur Hayden on. Once the three entered the Pokémon Centre to heal there Pokémon, he was already rambling about getting in a little more practice before hitting the pillow. Samantha said goodbye, informing them she was staying in a hotel, and said she might be able to swing by the gym tomorrow if he was having an early match to watch. Hayden returned to the gardens while Jean retired to her room, preferring to practice her routine there. When Hayden asked if he could see it, she told him to keep his nose out of it, and he would have to wait until the contest.

"Well, tomorrow's the day guys, the day we face our first ever Gym Leader. Now you remember the basic strategy so far, right?" Hayden asked Crane and Volt, who sat on the ground in front of him. They both nodded.

"All right, lets get to some sparring them" he smirked, clenching his fist enthusiastically.


	6. Chapter 6: Underground Rumble!

**Underground Rumble!**

"Okay you two, thats enough for now. Return, Crane, Volt" Hayden told his Pokémon as he held up there Pokeballs in his hand. Crane and Volt nodded as the red beams drew them back to the red and white spheres, which were replaced on Hayden's belt. He stretched with a yawn, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he began to walk back into the lobby of the Pokémon Centre. He had risen extremely early that morning, intent on getting any last minute practice in.

"Could you give my Pokémon one last rest up before my match Nurse Joy? I think they tired themselves out a bit too much just for a training session" Hayden asked the kind red head nurse behind the counter. She assured him they'd be fine within a few moments, and he placed there Pokeballs into the tray. While they were being healed, Hayden made his way to the buffet table and grabbed a few slices of toast.

For once, he wasn't intent on eating as much as he could. His stomach seemed a little tender today, the thought of facing his first ever gym had brought about a buzzing of butterflies in his stomach.

"Morning early bird" he chuckled as a bleary eyed Jean dropped into a seat opposite him. Her hair was scraped back into a messy ponytail. She yawned and took a sip of coffee.

"I still don't understand why your going so early" she muttered back, scrubbing at her face with a hand. He swallowed the last of his toast and picked up his glass of orange.

"Because, the quicker we get my badge, the quicker you can get to your contest" he replied. The remark certainly seemed to waken her up, and she began to gulp down the rest of her beverage. "Besides, once I've beaten the leader, we can have a little more training for the tournament tomorrow" Hayden added, draining his own glass.

A loud beeping noise drew there attention to the thin electrical screen that ran the length of the front counter. The words **Hayden Ranner: Pokémon Healed **flashed across it. He quickly took his Pokeballs and thanked Nurse Joy. "Oh, before I forget" she said, pulling out two small leaflets from under the counter. "These are to be issued to all Tournament contestants. They contain rules and guidelines for the tournament. Remember, nine thirty in the Contestants lounge. Its on the left side of the stadium, you can't miss it." Hayden stored the two leaflets in his backpack and him and Jean exited the Centre, once again stepping out into stifling heat and slightly dusty air.

"Ugh... how do the town people cope with it?" Jean mumbled, swatting at the air in a vain attempt to rid the dust. Hayden shrugged, adjusting his cap and hoisted the backpack up on his shoulders. He seemed to be doing a lot of unnecessary things at the moment, trying to calm himself.

Thanks to Samantha, who had managed to drill directions into Hayden's brain, the two were nearing the small square block quickly. He frowned a little. "Hey, Jean... Don't you think that looks a little too small to be a gym?" he asked quietly.

She halted her air swatting as she observed the building through her emerald eyes. After a few seconds she shrugged. "It looks small, yeah, but you never know what these Gym Leader's have up there sleeves. They didn't get to have there own gym's for no reason" she stated, sounding a lot like her sister.

"I suppose..." he replied, still a little worried. As the two neared the gym, Jean suddenly grabbed his arm hard, causing him to almost loose his balance. "Hey" he snapped, rubbing his arm. He looked up to see the blue roofed Pokémon Store.

"What are we doing stopping here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, since were passing, I want to check something out. It'll only take a few seconds" she added as Hayden opened his mouth to argue. Checking the time and seeing it was just gone eight thirty, the gym was only just opening, he obliged.

This store was a lot smaller than the huge one in Redville. It had only one floor, which was separated by a few stands. It was fairly quiet to, with only a two early morning shoppers browsing the goods. Jean didn't spare a glance at anything though, and made her way to the counter. The man standing behind it looked rather pompous, with white hair and a perfect moustache to match. He wore a blue, black trimmed suit with buttons running up the side. The Pokémon Store logo was stitched onto the right breast.

"May I help you? My name is Store Man Edward" he said politely. He sounded very well kept and crisp.

"Yes you could. I'd like to have a look at your selection of TM's please" Jean replied with a kind smile. Store Man Edward nodded and pulled out a tray covered in a sheet of plastic. The tray held various different coloured disks, all perfectly round and shiny, which had labels below them.

Jean's eyes flittered up and down the TM's with excitement. Hayden looked over them to. There were some impressive and useful looking moves, and he spotted some he'd like to buy. But when his blue orbs found the price tags, they widened and his jaw dropped momentarily. They really were expensive.

"Whoa! Theres no way your gonna' be able to afford one of those Jean. Not for a long time. Can we go already" he said, glancing down at his watch. His nerves were bad enough already, without having to wait longer than necessary. Jean pretended she didn't here and bent closer to a ruby red coloured disk.

"Overheat? That looks strong! With that, Ash would be seriously dangerous..." she muttered to herself.

"Ah yes, Overheat. It is quite the strong fire type move young lady. And its one of the four TM's on offer as a prize in tomorrow's Tournament" Store Man Edward stated with a smile. Jean looked up at him.

"Along with Overheat, Aqua Ring, a water type move, Leaf Storm, a grass type technique and Zap Cannon an Electric elemented attack are all up to be won. They're all equally damaging moves, aside from Aqua Ring, and very effective, which is probably why so many people have applied for the Tournament." He said, pointing out each disk, which were just as expensive.

"Hmm... A Zap Cannon would be lethal with Volt... I guess I'll just have to try my hardest tomorrow" Hayden muttered. Jean eyed him suspiciously, she had her eyes on receiving Overheat. That would have to wait until tomorrow however, as Hayden began to moan about the time. They thanked Store 

Man Edward for his help and made their way back on down the street leading to the gym. Hayden was mentally checking through his rough plan, going over and over it. Jean glanced at him and a small smirk crossed her lips as she saw he was nervous.

"You'll be fine. Lets just get in there" she said, letting him reach the chunky doors first. He hesitated for a few seconds, then raised both hands and pushed on the door. It opened surprisingly easily considering it looked like it weighed tons. He stepped inside first, with Jean following.

Immediately he was confused. He had expected to find some sort of battlefield, with the white markings of the area where the Pokémon fought. He found a dusty patch of earth with nothing but a set of stairs leading from a steel platform on one side, and a industrial looking lift on the opposite end. "What the?..." he heard Jean mutter behind him.

"I don't think were in the right place Jean." Hayden said dejectedly. He had waited for a long time, to come and find it was... some sort of joke?. Jean frowned and tapped her chin, looking around in the dim light thrown from the few strips of factory looking lights hanging from the stone ceiling.

However, Hayden began to hear approaching footsteps. Him and Jean exchanged curious looks, and a previously not seen door opened from atop the steel platform. Out from it stepped a tall, messy brown haired male. He looked relatively young, in his mid twenties maybe, and wore a slightly dirt stained navy blue suit with some scuffed black shoes. He carried a blue hardhat under his arm. Upon spotting Hayden and Jean he waved to them, quickly descending the steps. The two moved to meet him in the middle of the small 'gym'.

He somewhat had a posture like Store Man Edward's, in the sense that he was very well off and his suit certainly showed it, even if it was a little dirty. He had warm brown eyes. "Ah, morning you two. Can I help you at all?" he asked kindly. He voice seemed a little posh.

"Errm... yeah.. I was wondering whether you knew where Hailen's Gym is? I thought this was it.. but obviously not.." Hayden muttered, looking around the gloomy place. The man chuckled lightly at Hayden's question.

"Why, you _are _in Hailen Town's one and only Gym!. And I am the Gym Leader." He extended his hand. "Oliver" Hayden stood still, slightly dazed for a few seconds before slowly shaking Oliver's hand, still very confused.

"But... this hardly looks like the place to have a gym battle" Jean blurted, motioning the dusty dirt. Oliver smiled and nodded.

"Absolutely. This is certainly not the battlefield. Now, which one of you is interested in challenging me?" Oliver agreed. Hayden stepped forward, slightly paler than usual and a attempt at determination painted across his face.

"I am! I'm Hayden Ranner, from Strane Town" he gushed.

"Another challenger from Strane Town! Your the second in two days, I had a blue haired girl in here yesterday. She was rather... obnoxious" Oliver said with a frown, tapping his chin with a finger. Hayden and Jean exchanged looks. "You know her?".

"You could say that Oliver. Now, about this battle.." Hayden said eagerly. Oliver smirked, amused at the boy's excitement.

"Unfourtantly, due to the nature of the battlefield, I'll have to ask you young lady to make your way up to the viewing area. Its just through the door on the platform. And Hayden, if you'd like to follow me onto the lift" Oliver said, nodding his head towards the waiting metal contraption.

"Good luck Hayden" Jean said before making her way up the stairs and through the door. Hayden gulped, he didn't count on Jean having to view the battle from afar... he was counting on her moral support. He shook his head, he could still do it with her just watching.

"So, how comes the battlefield is _below _the actual gym itself?" Hayden inquired as the two stepped onto the bare platform. Oliver punched a few buttons on a battered looking control pad and the creaky block of metal began to slowly descend.

"Well, the Pokémon I work with are rock types, and thus them being in there true element only seems fair. And providing more of a obstacle to the challenger only seems natural." Oliver replied, brushing off his suit. He frowned a particular stubborn stain. "That'll never come out now.. shame I didn't have time to change. If only Mayor Jonas wasn't so talkative at our meetings..." he grumbled.

"Mayor Jonas? Isn't he the one hosting the Tournament tomorrow?" Hayden asked, recognising the name from the poster in the Pokémon Centre.

"Not him in particular, we all are, the Hailen Town Community Body. Its a team effort really, and as excited as I am, its kept me a lot from gym duties and work at the Oil rigs" Oliver responded. The platform was beginning to slow down now, but they still remained in a roughly made vertical tunnel lit by lanterns.

"Wait.. your part of the Hailen Town Community Body?" Hayden gawked. He assumed there meeting had been simply gym leader business. Oliver laughed a little.

"A lot of people respond that way. Yes, I'm one of the five main members. Alongside being gym leader I help the Hailen Town Council and I'm the assistant manager beside my father at the Oil Rigs. I actually stumbled across the gym leader position when the previous leader retired and he saw me battling a few wild Rhyhorn that had been damaging the rigs. Its stressful, but well worth it."

"Wow.. thats a lot of work" Hayden mumbled. A sudden cold draft lifted up from beneath them and a sliver of light was shining across the pair's feet. The sliver expanded as the platform exited from the tunnel and into a huge round chamber that made Hayden's mouth drop into a comical 'o' shape.

The area upstairs could have easily fitted four times in the huge cave, if thats what you'd call it. The ceiling rose two times as high as the gym building itself. The floor was dusty and covered in rocks and little bits of rubble, with the white lines of a battlefield painted over, and a area of the rock on the wall had been cleared to make way for a small strip of plastic, which served as a window. Hayden could see Jean standing in the viewing area, looking down at him from behind the plastic. Two large, strong lights hung from the ceiling, giving plenty of light. There were several roughly shaped holes in the walls, all at random intervals and looked quite strange. The whole place was overwhelming. Oliver chuckled at the look of Hayden's awe struck face.

"Welcome to the _real _Hailen Town Gym Hayden" he said simply, making his way to his small area where he would stand during the battle. Hayden simply gulped.

_No turning back now. This gym is impressive and slightly intimidating, but if we try enough, we can do it. _He thought to himself, taking up his own place.

"Now, Hayden. In this match we'll both use two Pokémon, is that okay?" Oliver asked, his voice slightly raised to carry the distance between them. Hayden nodded, already unclipping his first Pokeball.

"Only you can switch Pokémon, if you win you'll receive the official Hailen Town Gym badge and a TM. If you lose, you may retry the next day, and if you lose again, it continues." Oliver stated. "Okay" Hayden called back. Oliver pulled a Pokeball from the inside pocket of his suit and smiled.

"I hope you turn out to be a challenge. We'll see how you fare against Geodude" he said, throwing the sphere into the air. A second later, a small levitating boulder had appeared. No – it wasn't just a boulder – it had long arms and large hands, with a face. "Thats a Pokémon?" Hayden asked himself, quickly scooping out his Pokedex.

_**Geodude, the Rock Pokémon.**_

_**It climbs mountain paths using only the power of its arms. Because they look just like boulders lining paths, hikers may step on them without noticing.**_

"A rock type, as expected. And part Ground.." Hayden said as he returned his blue Pokedex to his pocket. "I'll start off with Crane" He tossed his Pokeball into the air, catching it after Crane had materialised in a flash of white.

"I'll take the first move, if I may Hayden. Geodude, get in close and use Tackle" Oliver commanded his Pokémon. Geodude shot forwards, floating over a jutting rock and preparing its body for a full Tackle.

"Use the time to pump yourself up with Focus Energy Crane" Crane shuffled as its eyes glowed a deep orange momentarily, they returned to normal, and then flashed orange again before Geodude slammed into Crane. Geodude was literally a moving boulder and thus its mass was a lot more than Crane's, so the Nidoran was sent reeling.

The hit itself didn't seem to much damage however, as Crane leaped back to his feet and bounded forwards to face his opponent. "Geodude, use another Tackle"

"Crane, use Leer to block it, quickly" Hayden called. Geodude began to float forwards again, wrapping its arms around itself for the impact, but Crane's eyes glowed a crimson red. Geodude began to falter in his attack, and stopped completely just inches short of Crane.

"Good, now jump and use Double Kick" Crane leaped and turned at the same time, striking Geodude square in the face with its two hind legs, simultaneously. Geodude rolled backwards through the air, crashing into a rock. It finally untangled itself and floated back up, ready for more.

"That was a smart move Hayden. At first I wandered why you'd chosen a Poison type, but now I see it has a fighting type move. Type advantages will only take you so far though. Geodude, charge forwards and use Rock Throw" Oliver said, pointing.

His Pokémon burst forwards, scooping down to rip a large rock from the gym floor before hurling it, and then bending down to get another, and another, all the while closing the distance. Crane took the hits with a cry of pain, but was still standing. "Now, Tackle it Geodude" Geodude used its momentum gained from charging forwards and pushed it into a Tackle attack, flying towards Crane.

"Dodge to the left and use Double Kick again!" Hayden commanded. His stomach was fluttering with nerves, but at the same time a surge of raw excitement rushed through him. Crane obliged and leapt to the left just in time, leaving Geodude to crash into the hard floor, sending up a small cloud of dust. It didn't move for a few seconds, recovering from the collision.

Crane used this few seconds to turn away again and kick out once, twice, dealing sharp blows which made Geodude roll a few feet with each kick. Using one arm to push itself up into a floating position, it was looking pretty worn out by now. "I think now is a good time for a Rollout attack Geodude! You know what to do" Oliver exclaimed with a mysterious smirk.

Hayden frowned. _Wander what he's up to_. Geodude curled its arms around itself again, and dropped to the floor. There, it began to roll and spin on the spot, slowly bringing up small puffs of dust and dirt as its spinning intensified. "Crane, get ready to dodge" Hayden said. So far his plan had been going well, delivering Double Kicks when Crane could.

A few more seconds spinning, and with much resemblance to a pin ball, Geodude burst forwards with surprising speed for a Rock type, zooming straight for Crane. Crane leapt to the side, missing Geodude by inches. However, Geodude didn't turn around, as anyone would had expected, it carried on going, lifting off the ground with a whirl and crashing through one of the many holes that dotted the walls. Hayden let his jaw drop. "What the...!" he cried out.

"While I may not be able to attack outside of the battlefield perimeters, Geodude can use the holes to slowly increase the power of its Rollout attack, meaning next time it strikes, it'll be at maximum power!" Oliver smirked. As if on cue, Geodude burst out from a hole on Oliver's left and struck the ground once before shooting off into another hole. It had left a small dent in the floor where it had landed.

-

Meanwhile, Jean was standing on tip toes, leaning in against the plastic in anticipation. She was frowning in thought. _Hmmm... Obviously Hayden didn't expect this, but I don't think anyone would have!. I hope he's got a idea, maybe one or two of those Rollouts could finish Crane, and probably Volt to..._

-

Hayden frantically thought, scanning his mind for an idea, anything. He was perfectly aware that Crane would be finished if a few of those Rollout attacks hit dead on, and would leave Volt open for assault as well. He had to think of an idea.

Nothing came to him. Crane was looking in all directions, anticipating where to jump to try and avoid Geodude's imminent attack. Suddenly, with a crash, Geodude came zooming out from Hayden's far right, horizontally skimming the field before vanishing again into another hole. Hayden gulped.

"I know! Crane, try and tune your ears as much as you can... try and hear where Geodude's coming from!" Hayden quickly called, aware that Crane's ears, like any other Nidoran's, were highly sensitive. Crane closed his eyes quickly, his large ears began to quiver and shake, and his nose twitched a few times.

Suddenly his pink eyes snapped open and he turned to his left, just as Geodude once again burst out from the chamber wall, spinning even faster this time. Crane leaped up, still getting struck hard on its underbelly by the attack. He landed with a grunt, wincing at the pain from the attack. Without stopping, Geodude had shot back into another hole with a thud.

"Geodude, one more hit should do it" Oliver called out to the gym.

"Crane, try and dodge it again!" Hayden called out, worried at his Pokémon's health. _From what I know about Rollout, it eventually stops. If Crane can avoid the attacks until then it can put all his energy into striking Geodude while its recovering... But can Crane hold out?._

With a shout, Geodude fell from the only hole in the ceiling, slightly showering the battlefield with rocks and dust. Upon striking the gym floor with a crash, it sped straight for Crane, dodging around a few rocks. Crane leaped to the side, attempting to dodge, but Geodude leaned in to the Poison type, sending it sprawling into a rock. Oliver smirked, crossing his arms.

"Crane!" Hayden cried out as Crane lay motionless for a few seconds. Much to Oliver's surprise however, Crane slowly rose up, wincing and shaking with the pain that coursed through it. Taking a few steps to balance himself, he let loose a determined cry. Hayden breathed a silent breath of relief.

"Your Nidoran is certainly resilient Hayden. But I'm afraid it won't stand for much longer. Geodude, start up another Rollout attack, your weakest hit should finish it" Oliver said calmly. Geodude simply grunted, once again beginning to spin rapidly on the spot before racing around to Oliver's side of the field, and then bursting forwards, instead of disappearing into the walls of the gym itself.

Hayden gulped as the incoming rock closed in... that was it! Rocks!.

"Crane, on my word jump to your right!" Hayden exclaimed. Crane tensed his muscles, still glaring determination across to the Geodude that would surely cause its fall. "NOW!" Hayden shouted.

Crane gave a cry of pain as it used its weakened legs to leap to its right, landing straight behind one of the tallest rocks on the gym floor. The Geodude, as expected, swerved its course round to follow Crane. "Geodude watch ou-!" Oliver began to command quickly as he realised what was to happen, but it was to late. The Geodude leapt up and collided with the rock with an almighty crash. The impact blew the rock's top off, and Geodude collapsed to the ground with a grunt.

Crane leaped back out from behind the rock with a smile. Geodude slowly rose back up, looking severely tired now, just as Hayden had planned. "Alright Crane, now lets us-." It was Hayden's turn to be cut off now however, as his mouth fell open in surprise. Crane was now surrounded by a white 

aura that expanded across his whole body, along with a low humming noise. The light increased in pitch and the white silhouette began to grow in size. Once the shining light had ceased a very different Crane stood before everyone. He was still the same shade of pink, with darker markings across its now larger body. Its horn had also grown a lot, now a good five inches bigger, along with his ears. His whole body was now a lot more defined and stronger looking, and he stood on all four legs equally.

"Crane.. evolved?" Hayden muttered, his mouth hanging open once again. Then, with a determined smirk, he clenched his fist. "Alright! Crane, charge and use Horn Attack" Hayden commanded.

Crane, who seemed to be even more determined after evolving, lowered its head and bounded forwards, quicker than before. Geodude raised its arms in front of itself in an attempt to stop the attack, but Crane's horn smashed into its body, sending it reeling, where it passed out at Oliver's feet. Crane jumped up in happiness and Hayden called out a well done to him.

"Return Geodude" Oliver said, returning the Pokeball to the inside of his jacket. "That was certainly a battle, I thought for sure Crane was finished. Not only did you utilise the field, Crane also evolved. However, I highly doubt he'll be able to stand up to my next Pokémon. He's pretty much done already" Oliver said, nodding towards Crane.

Hayden looked over at his Pokémon. It was true, he was panting slightly. The whole battle and evolving must have taken the energy from him, and Oliver's next Pokémon was sure to be even stronger. "We'll see Oliver" Hayden simply replied.

"Usually when a trainer faces my next Pokémon, I think of it to be an easy battle. However, your display against Geodude leads me to think otherwise. Don't be to relaxed however. Probopass, your turn"

If Hayden had thought Geodude was an odd looking Pokémon, Probopass was a shock for him. The Pokémon stood at about 4 feet tall, and resembled some sort of statue. It had a heavy looking rocky blue body, with two small eyes poking out from a large red hat type of rock formation. It had a large red nose, which looked to big for its body, and under that was a bushy moustache of some sort. Oliver noticed Hayden's shocked expression and smiled a little "Don't take Probopass's appearance lightly Hayden, it can deal some hefty damage"

Hayden had already whipped out his Pokedex

_**Probopass, the compass Pokémon **_

_**It exudes strong magnetism all over. It controls three units called 'mini noses'**_

"Crane use Horn Attack" Hayden commanded. He wanted to see the new Pokémon's reaction to a close range attack, he was sure Oliver had some sort of strategy up his sleeve.

"Probopass, Thunder Wave, now" Oliver said quickly.

-

Jean was now seated on one of the comfortable chairs stationed next to the viewing window, biting her nails. It had been such a close call last time, but Crane had pulled through. But now Oliver's new Pokémon was using electric attacks... who'd have thought a Rock Pokémon could learn electric type attacks.

"I hope you have a plan Hayden" she muttered to herself.

"So far, I think he's done very well" came a familiar voice. Jean whirled round to find Samantha crossing the room with a smile. She had been so engrossed in watching the battle she hadn't heard her enter.

"Oliver used similar strategies against me when I challenged him, the important thing is to employ your own strategies against him. He doesn't expect that" Samantha said, taking a seat next to Jean and turning her attention to the battle.

"That Probopass is a new addition though..." she said with a frown.

-

"Thunder Wave?" Hayden said slowly.

Crane charged forwards again, its horn lowered and aimed at the Rock/Steel Pokémon. Probopass's large nose began to crackle with sparks of electricity, and as Crane closed in, thin waves of yellowish electricity burst out. The waves surged through Crane, but appeared to no damage as he continued through with his Horn Attack which pushed Probopass back a few feet but done minimal damage.

"That seemed a little pointless... Crane, Double Kick it" Crane bounded forwards, thrusting its back legs hard in preparation for the attack. However, a few feet short, he suddenly stopped and winced as sparks of electricity danced across his body.

"Huh!" Hayden gasped, was this the Thunder Wave attack?.

"Thunder Wave has finally taken affect. It paralyzes a Pokémon so they can't attack you see Hayden, Probopass didn't use the attack for the fun of it" he said with a chuckle. "Now, Magnetbomb!"

Once again, Probopass's large nose began to shuffle slightly, this time shining deep silver. It leaped forwards, a rounded sphere of metallic looking energy rushing forwards from its nose as it did so. The Magnetbomb exploded on contact, sending Crane soaring backwards. He finally skidded to a halt a few feet besides Hayden where he didn't move, obviously knocked out.

"Hmm.. that things tough. Volt, lets finish this battle" Hayden murmured, tossing his next Pokeball out from which Volt materialised. He whirled his arms excitedly, reflecting his trainer's attitude as well as his own.

"Probopass, use Rock Throw" Oliver commanded. Probopass's nose glowed a bright white, and several small rocks floated up off the gym floor and streaked forwards to Volt.

"Use Thundershock to smash them up Volt" Hayden called as the first two rocks hit home and pushed Volt back a little in the dirt. Then, with a cry, electricity burst forwards from between his ears, the bolt bouncing between the oncoming rocks and smashing them to useless chunks. "Now, 

follow up with Thundershock aimed at Probopass" A second bolt of thunder bounded forwards and impacted with Probopass who grunted.

"Use Sandstorm to whip up some fun, Probopass" Oliver smirked. Immediately, Probopass's nose and moustache began to twitch, and the strange nose shaped attachments that served as arms began to rotate. A slight unsettlement of the cool air currents in the gym blew up, bringing small bursts of dust.

"Volt, quickly, use Low Kick" Hayden called out, knowing he only had a matter of seconds before the Sandstorm whipped up. While it was relatively weak, the ground type move would wear Volt down a lot more.

Volt nodded and closed the distance within mere seconds, managing to coordinate himself around the many jutting rocks still left after two Rock Throw attacks. As the gust of wind that mysteriously encircled the battlefield grew fiercer, more stones and dust arising, Volt leaped forwards, brandishing its right leg and striking Probopass's side. The Pokémon groaned almost robotically and skidded back a few feet with a look of anger on its face. Oliver's brown eyebrows raised in surprise.

"This was part of my plan. Low Kick is a fighting move so naturally its strong against rock Pokémon. And then when I scanned Probopass I realised it was a steel type, so it would be about four times more effective. And on top of that, the heavier the opponent is, the more damage Low Kick does!" Hayden explained smugly, proud at his own strategy.

"Impressive... very impressive. However, you just brought your Elekid dangerously close." Oliver replied, his own smug smirk crossing his face. At once, the slightly strong gust that had been circulating the two Pokémon instantly roared into a spinning debris storm. Hayden could barely see through the spinning dirt and rock, and that put him at a great disadvantage.

"Now, Discharge yourself Probopass" With the little gaps the Sandstorm blew into itself, Hayden was able to see Probopass's nose release a huge amount of crackling electricity. Over the loud whirling of the Sandstorm, Hayden could hear Volt cry in pain as the electricity struck him. "Prepare yourself for another Discharge" Oliver called into the sandstorm.

"This isn't good... not good at all. Volt can't hit what he can't see!. Volt, try and hit Probopass with a Quick Attack, and then try and get out of there" Hayden commanded. A few seconds later the sound of Probopass groaning in pain sounded from the middle of the whirling mix of dust and rock. A few moments later a white and yellow blur burst from the mass, and skidded to a halt. Volt was covered in scratches and a large scorch mark where the Discharge had hit.

"Escaping the Sandstorm attack doesn't mean you'll be free from Probopass's attacks Hayden. Probopass, release your Discharge!" Oliver said, brushing his hair from his face caused by the gusting wind.

With the sound of crackling electricity a sudden burst of energy streaked through the sandstorm, heading straight for Volt. Without having to be told, Volt leaped to the side, but the attack still grazed its side before crashing into the gym wall and dissapitating. "While your attacks aren't guaranteed to hit, Volt has one that will. Try the Swift we've been working on!"

Volt opened its small mouth and puffed out his chest, a barrage of yellow stars soaring into the area where Sandstorm was still raging. With another robotic groan, Probopass was hit by the star ray.

-

"Oliver's Probopass is really strong" Jean said, gazing down at the battlefield still.

"I'd say it has a higher defence more than anything. However, Volt can't hold out much longer. The few moments it was in that Sandstorm attack really wore it down. Hayden needs to end this quickly." Samantha thought aloud, as the grey and brown cloud that resembled the Sandstorm attack began to disperse, revealing a battered looking Probopass.

"This has been pretty intense though.." she murmured.

-

"Time to finish this Probopass, Rock Slide!" Oliver commanded. At once Probopass jumped forward a few feet, causing the gym floor to shake a little. Its arm/noses began to vibrate with a sound of metal on metal, and its nose began to shake. With an almighty crash that made the very gym itself shake, a storm of rocks burst upwards from the floor and soared high towards the ceiling.

Hayden realised he had to act quickly. "Quick Attack to get close!" As Volt burst forwards in a blur of white however, Probopass's arms slowly rotated so the nose's were pointing downwards. At that second, the hovering rocks began to hurtle to the gym floor like bullets, pounding into the dust with frightening power.

Hayden only bit his lip, he didn't need to tell Volt to try and dodge the falling rocks. Thanks to the multiple clouds of dust and debris being thrown up by the Rock Slide's impact, Hayden was unable to see Volt. That was until finally no more rocks crashed down, and the dust dispersed. Volt had obviously been hit by a rock or two because he had several new gashes on his body, but he was just closing in on Probopass who looked as surprised as Oliver.

"Now, Low Kick" Volt once again jumped high into the air and delivered a strong kick dead on Probopass's nose. The large nosed Pokémon groaned like a machine shutting down and suddenly crashed straight onto its back, eyes blank.

It took a few seconds for Oliver to realise Probopass had fainted. With a smile however, he withdrew his fainted Pokémon and began to stride around the battlefield towards Hayden, who was now jumping up and down with Volt after actually realising they had won.

"All I can say is... Wow. That was a match well worth participating in. You and your Pokémon are certainly going to be more than a match for the rest of the Gym Leaders." Oliver commented with a smile, extending his hand. Hayden shook it with a beaming grin.

"That was so... amazing and exhilarating. I mean, I've battled before, but that... I can't wait to the next gym!" Volt clenched his own fist and began to express his excitement with a few playful shocks.

"I really do hope your participating in the Tournament tomorrow, another show of your battling would be nice. Me and my Pokémon haven't had a challenge like that for a while, and in recognition 

of you defeating me, I present you with the Ore badge" Oliver said, pulling out a small gleaming badge from his suit pocket.

Hayden held it up to the light to inspect it. It was round in shape and black in colour, apart from a hexagon shaped part in the middle that jutted out from it, it was a spectrum of greys to browns. With another excited shout Hayden took out a slim silver case he had purchased earlier and carefully clipped his first ever badge into the first indent, admiring it a little more before returning the case to his bag.

"Also, with that comes the TM Rock Slide. You saw Probopass using it, it can be deadly sometimes" Oliver handed over a brown coloured disk with the words TM80 scratched into it. Hayden slotted it into a side pocket in his bag and returned it to his shoulders. His bright blue eyes brimmed with excitement.

"I regret commanding that Sandstorm attack now... If I thought my suit was bad before, its ruined beyond repair now.." Oliver muttered slightly, looking down at his now nearly brown suit.

"I think your gym is in worse state than your suit though..." Hayden said with a nervous laugh. The once smooth dusty gym floor was now littered with rocks pointing vertically down into the ground, several craters and holes where Geodude had used Rollout and rocks had been ripped up and a large crumbling hole was visible which was where Discharge had struck the wall.

"Heh, its nothing a few hours can't sort out. Its been in worse shape than this before. Well, congratulations Hayden" Oliver said with a smile. "I'd offer to heal your Pokémon, but the gym's healing machine is broken again. I really should get that fixed soon, but with all the hassle with the Tournament coming up and the troubles at the rigs on top of the Champion going missing.." he said while stifling a yawn.

Hayden's eyes widened. "The Champion's gone missing?!" he blurted. Oliver's own eyes seemed to widen a little as he realised what he had said.

"Well... sort of.. but... I think you should heal your Pokémon up fast Hayden, they fought hard" he muttered, intent on fastening his tie. Hayden frowned and glanced down at Volt, who returned the same confused look. "Yeah, your right. Well, I'll see you tomorrow Oliver!"

Oliver glanced around his gym, extracting a Great Ball from his suit. "Well Golem, we may as well get to work now" he sighed.

-

Phew!  
That was fun and hard to write, I began to run out of ideas nearer the end. First off, I decided to go with Probopass simply because it was different to the Anime/Game and I thought it would be a good change. It was about time Crane evolved, and I thought that having Hayden struggle would seem more realistic.  
That'll be the last of Samantha's appearances for a while, but she will be back, and playing a most important role. All that shady League Business? Well, that'll all be revealed in time...  
Oliver's name was actually pretty simple to come up with, but as I wrote the chapter I realised not 

everyone would make the connection.  
He's the assistant manager at the Hailen Oil Rig works (Which were mentioned a few chapters ago).  
At first it was going to be Oli – Anagram of Oil, but I decided it was to simple. Add his posh air, and we have Oliver!.  
The next few names will make it a lot more easier for you to guess they're speciality, but the next gym won't be until around Chapter 20!.  
Please Review!

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